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ADVENTURES 



THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 



BY SAMUEL A. BAED. 



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" "Whatever sweets salute the northern sky, 
With vernal lives, that blossom hut to die; 
These, here disporting, own the kindred soil, 
Nor ask luxuriance from the planter's toil; 
While sea-borne gales their gelid wings expand, 
To winnow fragrance round the smiling land." 

Goldsmith, 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 




LONDON : 
[AMES BLACKWOOD, PATERNOSTER ROW. 



MDCCCLVI. 



HH<\ 



London: 
sekcombe and jack. geeat windmill steeet. 






CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEB L 

PAGE 

Jamaica, and how the Author got there — A Solemn Soliloquy 
— An Artist Tempted — Painting a Portrait — The 
.Schooner Prince Albert — Captain and Crew — Antonio — 
Superstitions — Gathering of the Storm — A Scene of 
Terror — The Shipwreck 1 

CHAPTER II. 

"El Roncador" — The Escape — Coral Cays — Scene with the 
Dead — A Night of Fever — Delirium — Island Scenes — 
Turtles — A Cruel Practice — Sail, ho ! — An Encounter — 
Revolvers versus Knives — Departure from " El Eoncador" 
— Island of Providence — A Scene of Revelry — Away for 
the Mainland . '20 

CHAPTEE III. 

Approach to Blueflelds — An Imperial City— New Quarters 
— Mr. Hodgson — The Mosquito King — " George William 
Clarence!" — Grog versus Gospel — The "Big-Drunk" — A 
Mosquito Funeral — Singular Practices — Superstitions — 
An ill-fated Colony — Sad Reflections . . . .38 

CHAPTER IV. 

Rama Indians — Departure from Blue-fields — Canoe Voyage 
— Strange Companionship — The " Haulover" — Our first 
Encampment — Epicurean Episode — Night under the 
Tropics — Life on the Lagoons — Pearl Cay Lagoon — 
Climbing after Cocoa-Xuts — A Solitary Grave — Man- 



VI CONTENTS. 



PAG-E 

groves — Soldier Crabs — Roseate Spoonbill — River Wawa- 
shaan — Deserted Plantation — Sambo Settlement — " A 
King-Paper" — Extraordinary Reception — Captain Drum- 
mer — King's House — Vanilla Plant — Philanthropy — A 
Dance — " Spoiled Head " — Fire-light Fishing — Night 
Scene 54 

CHAPTER V. 

Visit to the Turtle Cays — Spearing Turtle — Jumping Turtle 
— Return to the Lagoon — Off again — Native Indigo — Ano- 
ther Haulover — Tropical Torments — Braving the Bar — 
Great River — Temporal Camp — Continuous Rain — Dole- 
ful Dumps — Freaks of the Flood — Rain, Rain ! — Craw- 
Fish— "El Moro"— The Manzanilla— Guavas— The Re- 
lease 78 

CHAPTER VI. 

On the River — Strong Currents — An Indian Village — A 
Woolwa Welcome — Ceremonious Reception — Relations 
of the Indians — Their Habits — A Tabooed Establishment 
— Projected Sport — Hunting the Manitus — Habits of the 
Animal — The Attack — Great Excitement — Successful 
Capture — Division of the Spoil — Instruments of the 
Chase — Another Epicurean Episode . . . .98 

CHAPTER VII. 

Departure — The Plantain-Tree — Bisbire — Nocturnal 
Noises — " Stirring up the Animals" — At Sea again — Mol- 
lusca of the Caribbean — Walpasixa — The Moonlit Ocean 
— Prinza-pulka River — Vines and Verdure — Savannahs — 
Village of Quamwatla — Inhospitable Reception — A Re- 
treat — Fatal Encounter — A Trial of Cunning — Tropical 
Thunder-Storm — A Second Encounter — The Fight, and 
the Triumph — Flight — Asylum in the Forest — The Ex- 
planation 108 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Tapir Camp — A Picturesque Retreat — Wild Life — Palm 
Wine — Queen of the Forest — Pine Ridges — Parrots and 
Paproquets — A Fright — " Only a Dante" — Trapping the 
Tapir — Successful Result — Narrow Escape — "An Army 
with Banners" — Honey-bees — Communion with Nature — 
Once more on the Lagoons 128 



CONTENTS. VI 



CHAPTER IX. 



Lagoons of the Mosquito Shore — Indians and Sambos — Life 
among the Lagoons — Aquatic Birds — Silk-Cotton Tree — 
Water Plant — Night Travelling — Tongla Lagoon — Fish- 
ing — A Disagreeable Discovery — The Chase — Prospect 
of a Fight — Successful Device — Diamond cut Diamond — 
Safely off— Wava Lagoon — Attack of Fever — Primitive 
Physic — Poisonous Reptiles — My Poyer Boy Bitten — 
The Cure 143 

CHAPTER X. 

Leave Fever Camp — Tonkas Indians — Formal Reception — 
Singular Practices — Towka Marriage — Extraordinary 
Ceremonies — Presents Propitiatory — Shouldering the 
Responsibility — Marriage Festival — How to get Drunk — 
The End of it— Wild Animals— Indian Rabbits— The 
Curassow — Chachalaca — Gibeonite — River Turtle — Sa- 
voury Cooking 160 

CHAPTER XI. 

Duckwarra Lagoon — Aboriginal Relics — Sandy Bay — Mos- 
quito Fashions — Sambos of Sandy Bay — General Peter 
Slam — An English Captain — Brutality — Interference — A 
Drunken Debauch — Mishla Drink — Dances and Songs — 
A Sukia Woman — Opportune Warning — Hurried Depar- 
ture — Power of the Sukias — Making Mishla — A Disgust- 
ing Operation 173 

CHAPTER XII. 

ape Gracias — Its Inhabitants — Fine Savannah — Sambo 
Practices — Novel Mode of Hunting — Island of San Pio 
— Mangrove Oysters — Trial of the Sukia — A Mysterious 
Seeress — Superstitions of the Sambos — Wulasha and Le- 
wire — Character and Habits of the Mosquitoes — Drunken- 
ness — Decrease — Festival of the Dead — New Plans — 
|River Wanks or Segovia — Iguanas — Armadilloes . . 189 

CHAPTER XIII. 

ver Bocay — New Scenery — End of the Savannahs — Li- 
lian Village — The Messenger — A Night Adventure — 
Sanctuary of the Sukia — Hoxom-Bal, the Mother of the 
Cigers — Mysteries — Ruins among the Mountains — Seri- 
es Impressions — A Tale of Wanks River — Harry F. and 
he Padre of Pantasma v>01 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

PAGE 

Up the Cape River — Imposing Scenery — Storm among the 
Mountains — Influence of the Moon's Rays — River Tirolas 
— Mountain Streams — Picturesque Embarcadero — A 
Sweet Encampment — An Accident — Laid up — Send off 
the Poyer Boy for Help — Speedy Recovery — Monkeys — 
An Encounter with the Pigs — To Eat or to be Eaten, a 
wide Difference — Return of the Poyer — Abandonment of 
the Canoe — "El Moro'' again — Ascent of the Mountains 
— Another Temporal — Reflections on Eire . . . 223 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Crest of the Mountains — A Desert Waste — Descent — 
Rio Guallambre — Gold Washing — The Poyer Tillage — 
Habits of the Poyers — Plantations — Poisoning Eish — 
Primitive Arts — Indian Naiads — Patriarchal Government 
— Departure — Rio Amacwass — Rio Patuca — " Gateway of 
Hell" — Approach to the Sea — Brus Lagoon . . 239 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Arrival at Brus — A Festival — Hospitality — Loss of the 
Poyer Boy — Civilization of the Caribs — Cocoa Groves — 
Sanitary Precautions — Wild-Eig or Banyan-Tree — Habits 
of the Caribs — Industry — The Mahogany-Cutters — Cele- 
bration of their Return — A Carib Dandy — Polygamy — 
Singular Practices — A Carib Crew — Departure — The Bay 
of Honduras — The Bottom of the Sea — Island of Guanaja 
— Night — Sombre Soliloquies — Antonio's Secret — The 
. Rousing of the Indians — Deep-laid Schemes of Revenge 
— The Voice of the Tiger in the Mountains . . . 257 

APPENDIX. 

A — Histoeical Sketch 276 

B — Notes and Exteacts 298 

C — Mosquito Vocabulary 307 



THE 



MOSQUITO SHOEE. 



CHAPTER I. 



MONTH in Jamaica is 
enough for any person's 
punishment. At any rate, 
a week had given me a 
surfeit of Kingston, with 
its sinister, tropical Jews, 
and variegated inhabitants, 
one-half black, one-third 
brown ; and the balance as 
fair as could be expected, 
considering the abominable, 
unintelligible Congo-Eng- 
lish which they spoke. Besides, the cholera which 
seems to be domesticated in Kingston, and to have 
become one of its local institutions, had begun to 
spread from the stews, and to invade the more 
civilized parts of the town. All the inhabitants, 
therefore, whom the emancipation had left rich 
enough to do so, were flying to the mountains, 
with the pestilence following, like a sleuth-hound 




2 THE MOSQUITO SHOIIE. 

at their heels. Kingston was palpably no place 
for a stranger, and that stranger a poor artist. 

The cholera had cheated me of a customer. I 
was moody, and therefore swung myself in a 
hammock, lit a cigar, and held a grand inquisition 
on myself, as the poets are wont to do on their 
souls. It ran after this wise, with a very little 
noise but much smoke : — 

"Life is pleasant at twenty-six. Do you like 
life?" 

Eather. 

"Then you can't like the cholera ?" 

No! 

" But you'll have it here !" 

ThenFll be off! 

" Where ?" 

Any where ! 

is Good, but the exchequer, my boy, how about 
that ? You can't get away without money." 

There was a long pause, a great cloud of smoke, 
and much swinging in the hammock, and a final 
echo — 

Money ! Yes, I must have money ! 

So I got up, spasmodically opened my portman- 
teau, dived deep amongst collars, pencils and foul 
linen, took out my purse, turned its contents on 
the table, and began to count. 

Eight, eight ten, nine, and this handful of small 
silver and copper. Call it ten pounds in all. 

" Only ten pounds !'' ejaculated my mental 
interrogator. 

Only ten ! responded I. 

"'T won't do!" 

It was clear enough, it wouldn't do; and I got 
into the hammock again. Commend me to a 



THE AUTIST S SOLILOQUY. O 

hammock, (a pita hammock, none of your canvas 
abominations,) and a cigar, as valuable aids to 
meditation and self-communion of all kinds. There 
was a long silence, but the inquisition went on. 
Finally " I'll do it \" I exclaimed, in the voice of 
a man determined on some great deed, not agree- 
able but necessary, and I tossed the cigar stump 
out of the window. But what I determined to do, 
may seem no great thing after all ; it was only to 
paint the portrait of my landlady. 
" Yes, Fll paint the old wench !" 

Now, I am an artist, not an author, and have 
got the cart before the horse, inasmuch as my 
narrative does not preserve the " harmonies/' as 
every well-considered composition should do. It 
has just occurred to me that I should first have 
told who I am, and how I come to be in Jamaica, 
and especially in that filthy place, Kingston. It 
is n't a long story, and if it is not too late, I will 
tell it now. 

As all the world knows, there are people who 
sell rancid whale oil, and deal in soap, and affect a 
great contempt for artists. They look down 
grandly on the quiet, pale men who paint their 
broad red faces on canvas, and seem to think that 
the few paltry pounds which they grudgingly pay 
for their flaming immortality, should be received 
with meek confusion and blushing thanks, as a 
rare exhibition of condescension and patronage. 
I never liked such patronage, and therefore would 
paint no red faces. But there is a great difference 
between red, bulbous faces, and rosy faces. There 
was that sweet girl at the boarding-school in 
L* Place, with the dark eyes and tresses of 



4 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

the South , and the fair cheek and elastic step of 
the North ! Of course, I painted her portrait, a 
dozen times at least, I should say. I could paint 
it now ; and I fear it is more than painted on my 
heart, or it would n't rise smiling here, to distract 
my thoughts, make me sigh, and stop my story. 

I'll paint grand historical paintings, thought I 
one day, and straightway purchased a large canvas. 
I had selected my subject, Balboa, the discoverer 
of the Pacific, bearing aloft the flag of Spain, 
rushing breast- deep in its waves, and claiming its 
boundless shores and numberless islands for the 
crown of Castile and Leon. I had begun to sketch 
in the plumed Indians, gazing in mute surprise 
upon this startling scene, when it occurred to 
me — for I have patches of common sense scattered 
amongst the flowery fields of my fancy — to count 
over the amount of my patrimonial portion. 
Grand historical paintings require years of study 
and labour, and I found I had but eighty pounds, 
owed for a month's lodging, and had an unsettled 
tailor's account. It was clear that historical paint- 
ing was a luxury, for the present at least, beyond 
my reach. It was then some evil spirit, taking 
the cue doubtless from my projected picture, 
suggested : — 

" Try landscape, my boy ; you have a rare hand 
for landscapes — good flaming landscapes, full of 
yellow and vermilion, you know !" 

Although there was no one in the room, I can 
swear to a distinct slap on the back, after the em- 
phatic "you know" of the tempter. It was a true 
diabolical suggestion, the yellow and vermilion, 
but not so sulphurous as what followed : — 

" Go to the tropics, boy, the glorious tropics, 



THE ARTIST TEMPTED. D 

where the sun is supreme, and never shares his do- 
minion with blue-nosed, leaden-coloured, rheumy- 
eyed frost-gods ; go there, and catch the matchless 
tints of the skies, the living emerald of the forests, 
and the light-giving azure of the waters ; go where 
the birds are rainbow- hued, and the very fish are 
golden; where — ;; 

But I had heard enough ; I was blinded by the 
dazzling panorama which Fancy swept past my 
vision, and cried, with enthusiastic energy, 
" Hold; I'll go to the glorious tropics P' 
And I went — more's the pity — in a little dirty 
schooner, full of pork and flour ; and that is the 
way I came to be in Jamaica, dear reader, if you 
want to know. I had been there a month or more, 
and had wandered all over the really magnificent 
interior, and filled my portfolio with sketches. But 
that did not satisfy me ; there were other tropical 
lands, where Nature had grander aspects, where 
there were broad lakes and high and snow-crowned 
volcanoes, which waved their plumes of smoke in 
mid- heaven, defiantly, in the very face of the sun ; 
lands through whose ever-leaved forests Cortez, 
Balboa, and Alvarado, and Cordova had led their 
mailed followers, and in whose depths frowned the 
strange gods of aboriginal superstition, beside the 
deserted altars and unmarked graves of a departed 
and mysterious people. Jamaica was beautiful cer- 
tainly, but I longed for what the transcendentalists 
call the sublimely-beautiful, or, in plain English, 
the combined sublime and beautiful — for, in short, 
an equatorial Switzerland. And, although Jamaica 
was fine in scenery, its dilapidated plantations, and 
filthy, lazy negroes, already more than half re- 
lapsed into native and congenial barbarism, were 



6 THE MOSQUITO SHOUE. 

repugnant to my notions and tastes. They grinned 
around me, those negroes, when I ate, and scratched 
their heads over my paper when I drew. They 
followed me every where, like black jackals, and 
jabbered their incomprehensible lingo in my ears 
until they deafened me. And then their odour 
under tropical heats ! Faugh ! 

I had, therefore, come down from the interior 
to set up my easel in Kingston, paint a few views, 
and thereby raise the wind for a trip to the main- 
land. Of course, I did not fly from painting red- 
faced portraits in the United States, to paint ebony 
ones in Jamaica. My scruples, however, did not 
apply to customers. There was a "brown man/' 
which is genteel Jamaican for mulatto, who was 
an Assembly-man, or something of the kind, and 
wanted a view of the edifice at Spanish-town, 
wherein he legislated for the "emancipated island." 
I had agreed to paint it for the liberal compensa- 
tion of twenty pounds. But one hot, murky morn- 
ing, my brown lawgiver took the cholera, and be- 
fore noon was not only dead, but buried — and my 
picture only half-finished ! Mem. As people have 
a practice of dying, always get your pay before- 
hand. 

Voltaire, I believe, has said, that if a toad were 
asked his ideal of beauty, he would, most likely, 
describe himself, and dwell complacently on a cold, 
clammy, yellow belly, a brown, warty, corrugated 
back, and become ecstatic on the subject of goggle 
eyes. And, I verily believe, that if my landlady 
had been asked the same question, she would have 
coquettishly patted up her woolly curls over each 
oleaginous cheek, and glanced toward the mirror, 
by way of reply. Black, glossy black, and fat, 



A PROPOSAL. / 

marvellously fat, yet she was possessed, even she, 
of her full share of feminine vanity. There was no 
mistaking, from the first day of my arrival, that 
head was running on a portrait of herself. She was 
fond of money and penurious, and careful, there- 
fore, not to venture upon a proposition until she 
had got some kind of clue as to what her immor- 
tality would be likely to cost. I had, however, 
diplomatically evaded all of her approaches, up to 
the unfortunate day when my Assembly-man died. 
She brought me the news herself, and saw that it 
annoyed rather than shocked me, and that I 
stopped painting with the air of a man abandoning 
a bad job. She evidently thought the time favour- 
able for a coup de main; there was a gleam of 
cunning in her little, round, half-buried eyes, and 
the very ebony of her cheek lightened palpably, as 
she said : 

" So your picture will be no good for nothing?" 

No! 

u You have not got the V\ 

And she significantly rubbed the fore-finger of 
one hand in the palm of the other. 

No ! 

There was a pause, and then she resumed : 

ff I want a picture I" 

Eh? 

i( A picture, you know \" 

And now she complacently stroked down her 
broad face, and exhibited a wide, vermilion chasm, 
with a formidable phalanx of ivories, by way of a 
suggestive smile. 

No, I never paint portraits ! 

" Not for ten pounds V 3 

No ; nor for a hundred,— go 1 



8 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

And my landlady rolled herself out of the room 
with a motion which, had she weighed less than 
two hundred, might have passed for a toss. 

It was on the evening of this day, and after this 
conversation, one half of the Assembly-house at 
Spanish-town staring redly from the canvas in the 
corner, that I lay in my hammock and soliloquized 
as aforesaid. It was thus and then, that I resolved 
to paint my landlady. 

And having now, by means of this long paren- 
thesis, restored the harmonies of my story, and got 
my horse and cart in correct relative positions, I 
am ready to go a-head. 

I not only resolved to paint my landlady, but I 
did it, right over the half-finished Assembly-house. 
It was the first, and, so long as there are good 
potatoes to be dug at the rate of six cents the 
bushel, it shall be my last portrait. I cannot 
help laughing, even now, at that fat glistening 
face, looking for all the world as if it had been 
newly varnished, surmounted by a gaudy red scarf, 
wound round the head in the form of a peaked 
turban; and two fat arms, rolling down like ele- 
phants' trunks against a white robe for a back- 
ground, which concealed a bust that passeth de- 
scription. 

My landlady was satisfied and generous withal, 
for she not only paid me the ten pounds, and gave 
me my two weeks board and lodging in the bargain, 
but introduced me to a coloured gentleman, a friend 
of hers, who sailed a little schooner twice a year to 
the Mosquito shore, on the coast of Central 
America, where he traded off refuse rum and gaudy 
cottons for turtle-shells and sarsaparilla. There 



THE " PRINCE ALBERT. 9 

was a steamer from Kingston, once a-month, to 
Carthagena, Chagres, San Juan, Belize, and c: along 
shore ;" but, for obvious reasons, I shall not go in 
a steamer. So I struck up a bargain with the 
fragrant skipper, by the terms of which he bound 
himself to land me, bag and baggage, at Bluefields, 
the seat of Mosquito royalty, for the sum of three 
pounds, " currency ." 

Why Captain Ponto (for so I shall call my land- 
lady's friend, the coloured skipper) named his little 
schooner the a Prince Albert/' I cannot imagine, 
unless he thought thereby to do honour to the 
Queen-Consort; for the aforesaid schooner had 
evidently got old, and been condemned, long be- 
fore that lucky German woke the echoes of Gotha 
with his baby cries. The u Prince Albert'' was of 
about seventy tons burden, built something on the 
model of the " Jung-frau," the first vessel of the 
Netherlands that rolled itself into New York bay, 
like some unwieldy porpoise, after a rapid passage 
of about six months from the Hague. The wise 
men of the Historical Society have satisfactorily 
shown, after long and diligent research, that the 
(c Jung-frau" measured sixty feet hold, and was 
modelled after one of Kubens' Yenuses. The 
dimensions of the " Prince Alberl" were eveiy 
way the same, only twenty feet less. The sails 
were patched and the cordage spliced, and she did 
not leak so badly as to require more than six 
hours' steady pumping out of the twenty-four. The 
crew was composed of Captain Ponto, Thomas, his 
mate, one seaman, and an Indian boy froni Yuca- 
tan, whose business it was to cook and do the 
pumping. As may be supposed, the Indian boy 
did not rust for want of occupation. 



10 THE MOSQUITO SHOItE. 

It was a clear morning, toward the close of De- 
cember, that Captain Ponto's wife, a white woman, 
with a hopeful family of six children, the three eld- 
est with shirts, and the three youngest without., 
came down to the schooner to see us off. I watched 
the parting over the after-bulwarks, and observed 
the tears roll down Mrs. Ponto's cheeks as she bade 
her sable spouse good-by. I wondered if she really 
could have any attachment for her husband, and if 
custom and association had utterly worn away the 
natural and instinctive repugnance which exists be- 
tween the superior and inferior races of mankind ? 
I thought of the condition of Jamaica itself, and 
mentally inquired if it were not due to a grand, 
practical misconception of the laws of Nature, and 
the inevitable result of their reversal ? It cannot 
be denied that where the superior and inferior 
races are brought in contact, and amalgamate, there 
we uniformly find a hybrid stock springing up, with 
most, if not all of the vices, and few, if any of the 
virtues of the originals. And it will hardly be 
questioned, by those experimentally acquainted 
with the subject, that the manifest lack of public 
morality and private virtue, in the Spanish- Ame- 
rican States, has followed from the fatal facility 
with which the Spanish colonists have intermixed 
with the negroes and Indians. The rigid and 
inexorable exclusion, in respect to the inferior 
races, of the dominant blood of North America, 
flowing through different channels perhaps, yet 
from the same great Teutonic source, is one grand 
secret of, its vitality, and the best safeguard of its 
permanent ascendency. 

Mrs. Ponto wept ; and as we slowly worked our 
way outside of Port Royal, I could see her waving 



THE OPEN SEA. II 

her apron, for she was innocent of a more classical 
signal, in fond adieus. We finally got out from 
under the lee of the land, and caught in our sails- 
the full trade-wind, blowing steadily in the desired 
direction. I sat long on deck, watching the re- 
ceding island sinking slowly in the bright sea, un- 
til Captain Ponto signified to me, in the patois of 
Jamaica, which the deluded people flatter them- 
selves is English, that dinner was ready, and led 
the way into what he called the cabin. This cabin 
was a little den, seven feet by nine at the utmost^ 
low, dark and dirty, with no light or air except 
what entered through the narrow hatchway, and 
consequently hot as an oven. Two lockers, one on 
each side, answered for seats by day, and, covered 
with suspicious mattresses, for beds by night. The 
cabin was sacred to Captain Ponto and myself, the 
mate having been displaced to make room for the 
gentleman who had paid three pounds for his pas- 
sage ! I question if the " Prince Albert" had ever 
before been honoured with a passenger; certainly 
not since she had come into the hands of Captain 
Ponto, who therefore put his best foot forward,, 
with a full consciousness of the importance of the 
incident. Ponto had been a slave once, and was 
consequently imperious and tyrannical now, toward 
all people in a subordinate relation to himself, 
Yet, as he had evidently been owned by a man of 
consequence, he had not entirely lost his early 
deference for the white man, and sometimes forgot 
Ponto the captain in Ponto the chattel. It was, 
in the latter character only, that he was perfectly 
natural ; and, although I derived no little amuse- 
ment from his attempts to enact a loftier part, I 
shall not trouble the reader with an episode oa 



12 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

Captain Ponto. He was a very worthy darkey, 
with a strong aversion to water, both exteriorly and 
internally. The mate, and the man who consti- 
tuted the crew, were ordinary negroes of no possi- 
ble account. 

But Antonio, the Indian boy, who cooked and 
pumped, and then pumped and cooked — I fear he 
never slept, for when there was not a " sizzling" in 
the little black caboose, there was sure to be a 
screeching of the rickety pump — Antonio attracted 
my interest from the first ; and it was increased 
when I found that he spoke a little English, was 
perfect in Spanish, and withal could read in both 
languages. There was something mysterious in 
finding him among these uncouth negroes, with 
his relatively fair skin, intelligent eyes, and long, 
well-ordered, black hair. He was like a lithe pan- 
ther among lumbering bears ; and he did his work 
in a way which accorded with his Indian character, 
without murmur, and with a kind of silent dogged- 
ness, that implied but little respect for his present 
masters. He seldom replied to their orders in 
words, and then only in monosyllables. I asked 
Captain Ponto about him, but he knew nothing, 
except that he was from Yucatan, and had pre- 
sented himself on board only the day previously, 
and offered to work his passage to the main land. 
And Captain Ponto indistinctly intimated that he 
had taken the boy solely on my account, which, of 
course, led to the inference on my part, that the 
captain ordinarily did his own cooking. He also 
ventured- a patronizing remark about the Indians 
generally, to the effect that they made very good 
servants, u if they were kept under ;" which, com- 
ing from an ex-slave, I thought rather good. 



ASTOXIO. 13 

All this only served to interest me the more in 
Antonio; and, although I succeeded in engaging 
him in ordinary conversation, yet I utterly failed 
in drawing him out, as the saying is, in respect to 
his past history, or future purposes. Whenever I 
approached these subjects he became silent and 
impassible, and his eyes assumed an expression of 
cold inquiry, not unmingled with latent suspicion, 
which half inclined me to believe that he was a 
fugitive from justice. Yet he did not look the 
felon or knave ; and when the personal inquiries 
dropped, his face resumed its usual pleasant al- 
though sad expression, and I became ashamed that 
I had suspected him. There was certainly some- 
thing singular about Antonio ; but, as I could 
imagine no very profound mystery attaching to a 
cook, on board of the " Prince Albert/' after the 
first day, I made no attempts to penetrate his 
secrets, but sought rather to attach him to me, as 
a prospectively useful companion in the country to 
which I was bound. Sol relieved him occasionally 
at the pump, although he protested against it ; 
and finally, to the horror of Captain Ponto, and the 
palpable high disdain of the mate, I became so in- 
timate with him as to show him my portfolio of 
drawings. His admiration, I found to my sur- 
prise, was always judiciously bestowed, and his 
appreciation of outline and colouring showed that 
he had the spirit of an artist. Several times, in 
glancing over the drawings, he stopped short, 
looked up, his face full of intelligence, as if about 
to speak, and I paused to listen. Each time, how- 
ever, the smile vanished, the flexible muscles ceased 
their play and became rigid, and a cold, filmy mist 
settled over the clear eyes which looked into mine. 



14 THE MOSQUITO SHOIIE. 

Whatever was Antonio's secret, great or small, it 
was evidently one that he half-wished, half-feared 
to reveal. I was puzzled to think that there could 
exist any relation between it and my paintings ; 
but Antonio was only a cook, and so I dismissed 
all reflection on the subject. 

On our third day out, the weather, which up to 
that time had been clear and beautiful, began to 
change, and night settled black and threatening 
around us. The wind had increased, but it was 
loaded with sultry vapours — the hot breath of the 
storm which was pressing on our track. Captain 
Ponto was not a scientific sailor, and kept no other 
than what is called u dead reckoning." He had 
made the voyage very often, and was confident of 
his course. Upon that point, therefore, I gave my- 
self no uneasiness ; not so much from faith in Cap- 
tain Ponto, as because there was nothing in the 
world to be done, except to follow his opinion. 
Nevertheless the captain was serious, and con- 
suited an antediluvian chart which he kept in his 
cabin. It was a Rembrandtish picture, that negro 
tracing his forefinger slowly over the chart, by the 
light of a candle, which only half revealed the little 
cabin, while it brought out his grizzly head and 
anxious face in strong relief against the darkness. 
What Captain Ponto learned from all this study is 
more than I can tell ; but when he came on deck, 
he ordered a reef to be made in the sails, and a 
variation of several points in our course, for the 
wind not only freshened, but veered to the north- 
cast. The hot blasts or puffs of air became more 
and more frequent, and occasional sheets of light- 
ning gleamed along the horizon. The sea, too, 
was full of phosphorescent light; fiery monsters 



THE STOilM. 13 

seemed to leap around us and wreath and twine 
their livid volumes in our wake. I could hear the 
hiss of their forked tongues where the waters 
closed under our stern. I stood, leaning over the 
bulwarks, gazing on the gleaming waves, and 
thinking of home — for the voyager on the great 
deep always thinks of home, when darkness en- 
velopes him, and the storm threatens — when Anto- 
nio silently approached, so silently that I did not 
hear him, and took his place at my side. I was 
somewhat startled, therefore, when, changing my 
position a little, I saw, by the dim, reflected light 
of the sea, his eyes fixed earnestly on mine. " Ah, 
Antonio," I said, " is that you ?" and I placed my 
hand familiarly on his shoulder. He shrank be- 
neath it, as if it had been fire. " What's the mat- 
ter?' 1 I exclaimed, reproachfully; "have I hurt 
you ?" 

" Pardon me !" he ejaculated, rather than spoke, 
in a voice deep and tremulous ; i€ I know now that 
it is not you who will die to-night !" 

f'What do you mean? You are not afraid, 
Antonio? Who thinks of dying ?" I replied, in a 
light tone. 

"No! it is not myself. I was afraid it might 
be you ; for, sir," and he laid a hand cold and 
clammy as that of a corpse on mine ; " for, sir, 
there is death on board this vessel ! ,J 

This was said in a voice so avowed and earnest 
that I was impressed deeply, in spite of myself, and 
for some moments made no reply. u You talk 
wildly, Antonio," I finally said ; " we are going on 
bravely, and shall be in Bluefields together in 
a day or two." 

" All of us, never," he replied, " never ! The 



16 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

Lord, who never lies, has told me so !" and, press- 
ing near me, he drew from his bosom something 
resembling a small, round plate of crystal, except 
that it seemed to be slightly luminous, and veined 
or clouded with green. " See, see V* he exclaimed, 
rapidly, and held the object close to my eyes. I 
instinctively obeyed, and gazed intently upon it. 
As I gazed, the clouds of green seemed to concen- 
trate and assume a regular form, as the moisture 
of one's breath passes away from a mirror, until I 
distinctly saw, in the centre, the miniature of a 
human head, of composed and dignified aspect, but 
the eyes were closed, and all the lineaments had 
the rigidity of death. 

" Do you see ?" 

"I do!" 

" It is Kucimen, the Lord who never lies !" and 
Antonio thrust his talisman in his bosom again, 
and slowly moved away. There was no mistake in 
what I had seen, and although I am not supersti- 
tious, yet the feeling that some catastrophe was 
impending gathered at my heart. It was in vain 
that I tried to smile at the Indian trick; the 
earnest voice of the Indian boy still sounded in 
my ears, " All of us, never !" What reason should 
he have for attempting to practise his Indian 
diablerie on any one, least of all on me ? I re- 
jected the thought, and endeavoured to banish 
the subject from my mind. 

Meanwhile the wind had gathered strength, and 
Captain Ponto had taken in sail, so that we had no 
more standing than was necessary to keep the vessel 
steady before the wind. The waves now began to 
rise, the gloom deepened, the hot puffs of air 
became more and more frequent, and the broad 



OBI. 17 

lightning-slieets rose from the horizon to the very 
zenith. The thunder, too, came rolling on, every 
peal more distinctly, and occasional heavy drops of 
rain fell with an ominous sound on the deck. The 
storm was evidently close at hand ; and I left the 
side of the vessel, and approached the little cabin 
to procure my poncho, for I preferred the open deck 
and the storm to the suffocation belovr. The hatch- 
way was nearly closed, but there was a light within. 
I stooped to remove the slide, and in doing so 
obtained a full view of the interior. The spectacle 
which presented itself was so extraordinary that 
I stopped short, and looked on in mute surprise. 
The candle was standing on the locker, and kneel- 
ing beside it was the captain. He was stripped to 
the waist, and held in one hand what appeared to 
be the horn of some animal, in which he caught 
the blood which dripped from a large gash in the 
fleshy part of his left arm, just above the elbow, 
while he muttered rapidly some rude and strangely- 
sounding words, unlike any I had ever before 
heard. My first impression was that Antonio had 
tried to fulfil his own prediction, by attempting 
the life of the captain • but I soon saw that he was 
performing some religious rite, a sacrifice or pro- 
pitiation, such as the Obi men still teach in Jamaica 
and Santo Domingo, and which are stealthily ob- 
served, even by the negroes professing Christianity 
and having a nominal connection with the church. 
I recognized in the horn the mysterious gre-gre of 
the Gold Coast, where the lowest form of fetish 
worship prevails, and where human blood is re- 
garded as the most acceptable of sacrifices. Re- 
specting too rigidly all ceremonies and rites, which 
may contribute to the peace of mind of others, to 

c 



18 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

think of disturbing them, I silently withdrew from 
the hatchway, and left the captain to finish his 
debasing devotions. In a short time he appeared 
on deck/ and gave some orders in a calm voice, as 
one reassured and confident. 

I was occupied below for only a few minutes, 
yet when I got on deck again the storm was upon 
us. The waves were not high, but the water 
seemed to be caught up by the wind, and to be 
drifted along, like snow, in blinding, drenching 
sheets. I was nearly driven off my feet by its 
force, and would have been carried overboard had 
I not become entangled in the rigging. The 
howling of the wind and the hissing of the water 
would have drowned the loudest voice, and I was 
so blinded by the spray that I could not see. Yet 
I could feel that we were driving before the hurri- 
cane with fearful rapidity. The very deck seemed 
to bend, as if ready to break, beneath our feet. I 
finally sufficiently recovered myself to be able, in 
the pauses of the wind, and when the lightning 
fell, to catch glimpses around me. Our sails were 
lorn in tatters, the yards were gone, in fact every 
thing was swept from the deck except three dark 
figures, like myself, clinging convulsively to the 
ropes. On, on, half-buried in the sea, we drifted 
with inconceivable rapidity. 

Little did we think that we were rushing on a 
danger more terrible than the ocean. The storm 
had buffeted us for more than an hour, and it 
seemed as if it had exhausted its wrath, and had 
begun to subside, when a sound, hoarse and steady, 
but louder even than that of the wind, broke on 
our ears. It was evident that we were approaching 
it, for every instant it became more distinct and 



THE SHIPWRECK. 19 

ominous. I gazed ahead into the hopeless dark- 
ness, when suddenly a broad sheet of lightning 
revealed immediately before us, and not a cable's 
length distant, what, under the lurid gleam, ap- 
peared to be a wall of white spray, dashing literally 
a hundred feet in the air — a hell of waters, from 
which there was no escape. "El Roncador!" 
shrieked the captain, in a voice of utter despair, 
that even then thrilled like a knife in my heart. 
The fearful moment of death had come, and I had 
barely time to draw a full breath of preparation 
for the struggle, when we were literally whelmed 
in the raging waters. I felt a shock, a sharp jerk, 
and the hiss and gurgle of the sea, a sensation of 
immense pressure, followed by a blow like that of 
a heavy fall. Again I was lifted up, and again 
struck down, but this time with less force. I had 
just enough consciousness left to know that I was 
striking on the sand, and I made an involuntary 
effort to rise and escape from the waves. Before 
I could gain my feet I was again struck down, 
again and again, until, nearer dead than alive, I 
at last succeeded in crawling to a spot where the 
water did not reach me. I strove to rise now, but 
could not; and, as that is the last thing I re- 
member distinctly of that terrible night, I suppose 
I must have fallen into a swoon. 



20 



THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 



CHAPTER II. 





OW long I remained insensible 
I know not, but when my con- 
sciousness returned, which it did 
slowly, like the lifting of a cur- 
J tain, I felt that I was severely 
hurt ; and, before opening my eyes, tried to drive 
away my terrible recollections, as one rousing from 
a troubled dream tries to banish its features from 
his mind. It was in vain ; and, with a sensation 
of despair, I opened my eyes ! The morning sun 
was shining with blinding brilliancy, and I was 
obliged to close them again. Soon, however, I 
was able to bear the blaze, and, painfully lifting 
myself on my elbow, looked around me. The sea 
was thundering with awful force, not on the sandy 
shore where I was lying, but over a reef two 
hundred yards distant, within which the water was 
calm, or only disturbed by the combing waves, as 



"el roncador." 21 

they broke over the outer barrier. Here the first 
and only object which attracted my attention was 
our schooner, lying on her beam ends, high on the 
sands. The sea, the vessel, the blinding sun and 
glowing sand, and a bursting pain in my head, 
were too palpable evidences of my misfortune to be 
mistaken. It was no dream, but stern and severe 
reality, and for the moment I comprehended the 
truth. But, when younger, I had read of ship- 
wrecks, and listened, with the interest of childhood, 
and a feeling half of envy, to the tales of old sailors 
who had been cast away on desert shores. And 
now, the first shock over, it was almost with a 
sensation of satisfaction, and something of exulta- 
tion, that I exclaimed to myself, " shipwrecked at 
last V* Robinson Crusoe, and Reilly and his com- 
panions, recurred to my mind, and my impulse 
was to leap up and commence an emulative career. 
But the attempt was a failure, and brought me 
back to stern reality, in an instant. My limbs 
were torn and scarified, and my face swollen and 
stiff. The utmost I could do was to sit erect. 

I now, for the first time, thought of my com- 
panions, and despairingly turned my eyes to look 
for them. Close by, and nearly behind me, sat 
Antonio, resting his head on his hands. His 
clothes were hanging around him in shreds, his 
hair was matted with sand, and his face was black 
wdth dried blood. He attempted to smile, but the 
grim muscles could not obey, and he looked at me 
in silence. I was the first to speak : 

Are you much hurt, Antonio ? 

" The Lord of Mitnal never lies !" was his only 
response ; and he pointed to the talisman on his 
swarthy breast, gleaming like polished silver in 



22 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

the sun. I remembered the scene of the previous 
night, and asked ; — 

Are they all dead ? 

He shook his head in sign of ignorance. 

Where are we, Antonio ? 

"ThisisElRoncador!" 

And so it proved. We were on one of the nu- 
merous coral reefs or cays which stud the sea of the 
Antilles, and which are the terror of the mariners 
who navigate it. They are usually mere banks of 
sand, elevated a few feet above the water, occasion- 
ally supporting a few bushes, or a scrubby, tempest- 
twisted palm or two, and only frequented by the 
sea-birds for rest and incubation, and by turtles for 
laying their eggs. Around them there is always a 
reef of coral, built up from the bottom of the sea by 
those wonderful architects, the coral insects. This 
reef surrounds the cay, at a greater or less distance, 
like a ring, leaving between it and the island pro- 
per a belt of water, of variable depth, and of the 
loveliest blue. The reef, which is sometimes scarce- 
ly visible above the sea, effectually breaks the force 
of the waves ; and if, as it sometimes happens, it 
be interrupted so as to leave an opening for the 
admission of vessels, the inner belt of water forms 
a safe harbour. Except a few of the larger ones, 
none of these cays are inhabited, nor are they ever 
frequented, except by the turtle fishers. 

It was to the peculiar conformation of these 
islands that our safety was owing. Our little vessel 
had been driven, or lifted by the waves, completely 
over the, outer reef. The shock had torn us from 
our hold on the ropes, and we had drifted upon the 
comparatively protected sands. The vessel too, 
had been carried upon them, and the waves there 



" EL R0NCAD0R." 23 

not being sufficiently strong to break her in pieces, 
she was left high and dry when they subsided. 
There was, nevertheless, a broad break in her keel, 
caused probably by striking on the reef. 

Two of the five human beings who had been on 
board of her, the captain and his mate, were 
drowned. We found their bodies ;- — but I am an- 
ticipating my story. When we had recovered our- 
selves sufficiently to walk, Antonio and myself 
took a survey of our condition. " El Roncador," 
the Snorer, is a small cay, three quarters of a mile 
long, and at its widest part not more than four 
hundred yards broad, — a mere bank of white sand. 
At the eastern end is an acre or more of scrubby 
bushes, and near them three or four low and dis- 
torted palm-trees. Fortunately for us, as will be 
seen in the sequel, " El Roncador" is famous for 
the number of its turtles, and is frequented, at the 
turtle season, by turtle-fishers from Old Provi- 
dence, and sometimes from the main land. Among 
the palm-trees, to which I have referred, these 
fishermen had erected a rude hut of poles, boards, 
and palm-branches, which was literally withed and 
anchored to the trees, to keep it from being blown 
away by the high winds. It was with a heart full 
of joy that I saw even this rude evidence of human 
intelligence, and, accompanied by Antonio, has- 
tened to it as rapidly as my bruised limbs would 
enable me. We discovered no trace of recent oc- 
cupation as we approached, except a kind of fur- 
row in the sand, like that which some sea-mon- 
ster, dragging itself along, might occasion. It led 
directly to the hut, and I followed it, with a feel- 
ing half of wonder, half of apprehension. As we 
came near, however, I saw, through the open front, 



24 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

a black human figure crouching within, motionless 
as a piece of bronze. Before it, stretched at length, 
was the dead body of Captain Ponto. The man 
was Frank, of whom I have spoken, as constitut- 
ing the crew of the "Prince Albert." It was a 
fearful sight ! The body of the captain was swol- 
len, the limbs were stiff and spread apart, the 
mouth and eyes open, and conveying an expres- 
sion of terror and utter despair, which makes me 
shudder, even now, when I think of it. Upon his 
breast, fastened by a strong cord, drawn close at 
the throat, was the mysterious gre-gre horn, and 
the gash in his arm, from which the poor wretch 
had drawn the blood for his unavailing sacrifice, 
had opened wide its white edges, as if in mute ap- 
peal against his fate. 

The negro sailor had drawn the body of the 
captain to the hut, and the trail in the sand was 
that which it had made. I spoke to him, but he 
neither replied nor looked up. His eyes were fixed, 
as if by some fascination, on the corpse. Antonio 
exhibited no emotion, but advancing close to the 
body lifted the gre-gre horn, eyed it curiously for 
a moment, then tossed it contemptuously aside, 
exclaiming : — 

" It could not save him : it is not good !" 

The words were scarcely uttered, when the 
crouching negro leaped, like a wild beast, at the 
Indian's throat ; but Antonio was agile, and evaded 
his grasp. The next instant the poor wretch had 
returned to his seat beside the dead. The negro 
could rtot endure a sneer at the potency of the 
gre-gre. Such is the hold of superstition on the 
human mind ! 

I tried to induce the negro to remove the body, 



SCENE WITH THE DEAD. 25 

and bury it in the sand ; but he remained silent 
and impassible as a stone. So I returned with 
Antonio to the vessel, for the instincts of life had 
come back. We found, although the little schooner 
had been completely filled, that the water had 
escaped, and left the cargo damaged, but entire. 
Some of the provisions had been destroyed, and 
the remainder was much injured. Nevertheless 
they could be used, and for the time being, at 
least, we were safe from starvation. My spirits 
rose with the discovery, and I almost forgot my 
injuries in the joy of the moment. But Antonio 
betrayed no signs of interest. He lifted boxes and 
barrels, and placed them on the sands, as delibe- 
rately as if unloading the vessel at Kingston. I 
knew that it was not probable the wrecked schooner 
would suffer further damage from the sea, pro- 
tected as it was by the outer reef, yet I sought to 
make assurance doubly sure, by removing what re- 
mained of the provisions to the hut by the palm- 
trees. Antonio suggested nothing, but implicitly 
followed my directions. 

We had got out most of the stores, and carried 
them above the reach of the waters on the sands, 
when I went back to the hut, with the determina- 
tion, by at once assuming a tone of authority, to 
have the negro removed and bury the body of the 
captain. I was surprised to find the hut empty, 
and a trail, like that which had attracted my no- 
tice in the morning, leading off in the direction of 
the bushes, at some distance from the hut. I fol- 
lowed it ; and, in the centre of the clump, disco- 
vered the negro filling in the sand above the corpse. 
He mumbled constantly strange guttural words, 
and made many mysterious signs on the sand, as 



26 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

he proceeded. When the hole was entirely filled, 
he laid himself at length above it. I waited some 
minutes, but as he remained motionless, returned 
. to the hut. - We now commenced carrying to it 
such articles of use as could be easily removed. 
But we had not accomplished much when Frank, 
the negro, presented himself; and, approaching 
me, inquired meekly what he should do. He was 
least injured of the three, and proved most ser- 
viceable in clearing the wreck of all its useful and 
moveable contents. 

By night I had bandaged my own wounds and 
those of my companions, and over a simple but 
profuse meal, forgot the horrors of the shipwreck, 
and gave myself up, with real zest, to the pleasures 
of a cast-away ! I cannot well describe the sensa- 
tion of mingled novelty and satisfaction, with which 
I looked out from the open hut upon the turbulent 
waters, whence we had so narrowly escaped. The 
sea still heaved from the effects of the storm, but 
the storm itself had passed, and the full tropical 
moon looked down calmly upon our island, which 
seemed silvery and fairy-like beneath its rays. 

At first, all these things were quieting in their 
influences, but as the night advanced I must have 
become feverish, for notwithstanding the toils of 
the day, and the exhaustion of the previous night, 
I could not sleep. My thoughts were never so 
active. All that I had ever seen, heard, or done, 
flashed back upon my mind with the vividness of 
reality. But, owing to some curious psychical 
condition, my mind was only retrospectively active; 
I tried i'n vain to bring it to a contemplation of the 
present or the future. Incidents long forgotten 
jostled through my brain; the grave mingling 



A NIGHT OF DELimOI. 27 

strangely with the gay. Now I laughed outright 
over some freak of childhood, which came back 
with primitive freshness; and, next moment, 
wept again beside the bed of death, or found my- 
self singing some hitherto unremembered nursery 
rhyme. I struggled against these thronging 
memories, and tried to ask myself if they might 
not be premonitions of delirium. I felt my own 
pulse, it beat rapidly; my own forehead, and it 
seemed to burn. In the vague hope of averting 
whatever this strange mental activity might por- 
tend, I rose and walked down to the edge of the 
water. I remember distinctly that the shore 
seemed black with turtles, and that I thought 
them creations of a disordered fancy, and became 
almost mad under the mere apprehension that the 
madness was upon me. 

I might, and undoubtedly would, have become 
mad, had it not been for Antonio. He had missed 
me from the hut ; and, in alarm, had come to seek 
me. I felt greatly relieved when he told me that 
there were real turtles on the shore, and not mon- 
sters of the imagination ; and that it was now the 
season for laying their eggs, and therefore it could 
not be long before the fishers would come for their 
annual supply of shells. Sol suffered him to lead 
me back to the hut. When I lay down he took 
my head between his hands, and pressed it steadily, 
but apparently with all his force. The effect was 
soothing, for in less than half an hour my ideas had 
recovered their equilibrium, and I fell into a slum- 
ber, and slept soundly until noon of the following 
day. 

When I awoke, Antonio was sitting close by me, 
and intently watching every movement. He smiled 



28 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

when my eyes met his, and pointing to Hs forehead 
said significantly — 

€e It is all right now V* 

And it was all right, but I felt weak and fever- 
ish still. A sound constitution, however, resisted 
all attacks, and it was not many days before I was 
able to move around our sandy prison, and join 
Antonio and Frank in catching turtles ; for, with 
more foresight than I had supposed to belong to 
the Indian and negro character, they were laying 
in a stock of shells, against the time when we 
should find an opportunity of escape. Upon the 
side of our island, to which I have alluded as 
covered with bushes, the water was comparatively 
shoal, and the bottom overgrown with a species of 
sea-grass, which is a principal article of turtle- 
food. The surface of the water, also, was covered 
with a variety of small blubber fish, which Antonio 
called by the Spanish name oidedales, or thimbles — 
a name not inappropriate, since they closely re- 
sembled a lady's thimble both in shape and size. 
These, at the spawning or egg-laying period of 
the year, constitute another article of turtle-food. 
During the night-time the turtles crawled up on 
the shore, and the females dug holes in the sand, 
each about two feet deep, in which they deposited 
from sixty to eighty eggs. These they contrived 
to cover so neatly, as to defy the curiosity of one 
unacquainted with their habits. Both Antonio 
and Frank, however, were familiar with turtle- 
craft, and got as many eggs as we desired. When 
roasted, they are really delicious. The Indians 
and people of the coasts never destroy them, being 
careful to promote the increase of this valuable 
shell-fish. But on the main land, wild animals, 



CATCHING TURTLES. 



2& 



such for instance as the cougar, frequently come 
down to the shore, and dig them from their resting 
places. Occasionally they capture the turtles 
themselves, and dragging them into the forest, 
kill and devour them, in spite of their shelly 
armour. 

It was during the night, therefore, that Antonio 
and Frank, who kept themselves concealed in the 
bushes, rushed out upon the turtles, and with iron 
hooks turned them on their backs, when they be- 
came powerless and incapable of moving. The day 
following, they dragged them to the most distant 
part of the island, where they u shelled' them ; — 




" shelling" turtles. 



a cruel process, which it made my flesh creep to 
witness. Before describing it, however, I must 
explain that, although the habits of all varieties of 



30 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

the turtle are much, the same, yet their uses are 
very different. The large, green turtle is best 
known ; it frequently reaches our markets, and its 
flesh is esteemed, by epicures, as a great delicacy. 
The flesh of the smaller or hawk-bill variety is not 
so good, but its shell is most valuable, being both 
thicker and better-coloured. What is called tor- 
toise-shell is not, as is generally supposed, the bony 
covering or shield of the turtle, but only the scales 
which cover it. These are thirteen in number, 
eight of them flat, and five a little curved. Of the 
flat ones four are large, being sometimes a foot 
long and seven inches broad, semi-transparent, 
elegantly variegated with white, red, yellow, and 
dark brown clouds, which are fully brought out, 
when the shell is prepared and polished. These 
laminae, as I have said, constitute the external 
coating of the solid or bony part of the shell ; and 
a large turtle affords about eight pounds of them, 
the plates varying from an eighth to a quarter of 
an inch in thickness. 

The fishers do not kill the turtles ; did they do 
so, they would in a few years exterminate them. 
When the turtle is caught, they fasten him, and 
cover his back with dry leaves or grass, to which 
they set fire. The heat causes the plates to separate 
at their joints. A large knife is then carefully in- 
serted horizontally beneath them, and the laminae 
lifted from the back, care being taken not to injure 
the shell by too much heat, nor to force it off 
until the heat has fully prepared it for separation. 
Many turtles die under this cruel operation, but 
instances are numerous in which they have been 
caught a second time, with the outer coating re- 
produced ; but, in these cases, instead of thirteen 



"a sail!" 



31 



pieces, it is a single piece. As I have already said, 
I could never bring myself to witness this cruelty 
more than once, and was glad that the process of 
" scaling" was carried on out of sight of the hut. 
Had the poor turtles the power of shrieking, they 
would have made that barren island a very hell, 
with their cries of torture. 

We had been nearly two weeks on the island, 
when we were one morning surprised by a sail on 
the edge of the horizon. We watched it eagerly, 
and as it grew more and more distinct, our spirits 
rose in proportion. Its approach was slow, but at 
noon Frank declared that it was a turtle schooner, 




A SAIL ! A SAIL ! 



from the island of Catarina or Providence, and 
that it was making for "El Roncador." And the 
event proved that he was right; for, about the 
middle of the afternoon, she had passed an opening 
through the reef, and anchored in the still water 
inside. She had a crew of five men, in whom it 
was difficult to say if white, negro, orlndian blood 
predominated. They spoke a kind of patois, in 
which Spanish was the leading element. And al- 
though we were unqualifiedly glad to see them, yet 



32 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

they were clearly not pleased to see us. The patron, 
or captain, no sooner put his foot on shore, than 
affecting to regard us as intruders, he demanded 
why we were there ? and if we did not know that 
this island was the property of the people of Cata- 
rina ? We replied by pointing to our shattered 
schooner, when the whole party started for it, and 
unceremoniously began to strip it of whatever arti- 
cle of use or value they could find, leaving us to 
the pleasant reflections which such conduct was- 
likely to suggest. 

While this was going on, I returned to the hut,, 
and found that Antonio and Frank had already re- 
moved the shells which they had procured, as also 
some other valuables which we had recovered from 
the wreck, and had buried them in the sand — a 
prudent precaution, which no doubt saved us much 
trouble. A little before sundown, our new friends, 
having apparently exhausted the plunder, came 
trooping back to the hut, and without ceremony 
ordered us out. I thought, although the physical 
force was against us, that a little determination 
might make up for the odds, and firmly replied 
that they might have a part of it, if they wished, 
but that we were there, and intended to remain. 
The patron hereupon fell into a great passion, and 
told his men to bring up the machetes — ugly in- 
struments, half knife, half cleaver. " He would 
see," he said, in his mongrel tongue, "if this 
white villain would refuse to obey him." Two of 
the men started to fulfil the order, while he stood 
scowling in the doorway. When they had got off 
a little distance, I unrolled a blanket in which I 
had wrapped our pistols, and giving one to Frank, 
and another to Antonio, I took my own revolver^ 



SUSPICIOUS VISITORS. 33 

and passed outside of the hut. The patron fell 
back, in evident alarm. 

" Now, amigo," said I, " if you want a fight, 
you shall have it; but you shall die first !" And I 
took deliberate aim at his breast, at a distance of 
less than five yards. " Mother of Mercy V he ex- 
claimed, and glanced round, as if for support, to 
his followers. But they had taken to their legs, 
^without waiting for further proceedings. The 
patron attempted to follow, but I caught him by 
the arm, and pressed the cold muzzle of the pistol 
to his head. He trembled like an aspen, and sank 
upon the ground, crying in most abject tones for 
mercy. I released him, but he did not attempt to 
stir. The circumstances were favourable for nego- 
tiation, and in a few minutes it was arranged that 
ive should continue to occupy the hut, and that he 
should remain with us, while his crew should stay 
on board the vessel, when not engaged in catching 
turtles. He did not like the exception in his 
favour ; but, fearing that he might pull up anchor 
and leave us to our fate, I insisted that I could not 
forego the pleasure of his company. 

The reader may be sure that I had a vigilant 
eye on our patron, and at night either Antonio or 
Prank kept watch, that he should not give us the 
slip. He made one or two attempts, but, finding 
us prepared, at the end of a couple of days, re- 
signed himself to his fate. Contenting ourselves 
with our previous spoil, we allowed the new-comers 
to pursue the fishery alone. At the end of a week 
I discovered, by various indications, that the sea- 
son was nearly over, and, accordingly, making a 
careless display of my revolver, told the captain 
that I thought it would be more agreeable for us 

D 



34 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

to go on board his schooner than to remain on 
shore. I could see that the proposition was not 
acceptable, and therefore repeated it, in such a way 
that there was no alternative but assent left. He 
was a good deal surprised when he discovered the 
amount of shells which we had obtained ; and when 
I told him that he should have half of it for car- 
rying us to Providence, and the whole if he took 
us to Bluefields, his good nature returned. He 
asked pardon for his rudeness, and, slapping his 
breast, proclaimed himself u un hombre bueno" 
who would take us to the world's end, if I would 
only put up my horrible pistol. That pistol, from 
the very first day, had had a kind of deadly fasci- 
nation for the patron, who watched it, as if mo- 
mentarily expecting it to discharge itself at his 
head. And even now, when he alluded to it, a 
perceptible shudder ran through his frame. 

Two days after I had taken up my quarters on 
board of the little schooner, which, in age and ac- 
cumulated filth, might have been twin-brother of 
the " Prince Albert," we set sail from " El Ron- 
cador/' As it receded in the distance, it looked 
very beautiful — an opal in the sea — and I could 
hardly realise that it was nothing more than a 
reef-girt heap of desert sands. 

Although friendly relations had been restored 
with the patron, for the crew seemed nearly pas- 
sive, I kept myself constantly on my guard against 
foul play. Antonio was sleeplessly vigilant. But 
the patron, so far from having evil designs, ap- 
peared really to have taken a liking to me, and 
expatiated upon the delights of Providence, where 
he represented himself as being a great man, with 
much uncouth eloquence. He promised that I 



ISLAND 0E PROVIDENCE. 35 

should be well received, and that he would him- 
self get up a dance — which he seemed to think the 
height of civility — in my honour. 

About noon, on our third day from €s El Ron- 
cador," the patron pointed out to me two light blue 
mounds, one sharp and conical, and the other 
round and broad, upon the edge of the horizon. 
They were the highlands of Providence. Before 
night, we had doubled the rocky headland of 
Santa Catarina, crowned with the ruins of some 
old Spanish fortifications, and in half an hour 
were at anchor, alongside a large New Granadian 
schooner, in the small but snug harbour of the 
island. 

This island is almost unknown to the world ; it 
has, indeed, very little to commend it to notice. 
Although accounted a single island, it is, in fact, 
two islands ; one is six or eight miles long, and 
four or five broad, and but moderately elevated ; 
while the second, which is a rocky headland, called 
Catarina, is separated from the main body by a 
narrow but deep channel. The whole belongs tt> 
New Granada, and has about three hundred inhabi- 
tants, extremely variegated in colour, but with a 
decided tendency to black. This island was a 
famous resort of the pirates, during their predo- 
minance in these parts, who expelled the Spaniards, 
and built defences, by means of which they several 
times repelled their assailants. 

The productions consist chiefly of fruits and 
vegetables; a little cotton is also raised, which, 
with the turtle-shells collected by the inhabitants, 
constitutes about the only export of the island. 
Vessels coming northward sometimes stop there, 
for a cargo of cocoa-nuts and yucas. 



36 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

As can leadily be imagined, the people are very- 
primitive in their habits, living chiefly in rude 
thatched huts, and leading an indolent, tropical 
life, swinging in their hammocks and smoking by 
day, and dancing, to the twanging of guitars, by 
night. My patron, whom I had suspected of being 
something of a braggart, was in reality a very con- 
siderable personage in Providence, and I was re- 
ceived with great favour by the people, to whom he 
introduced me as his own " very special friend." I 
thought of our first interview on " El Eoncador," 
but suppressed my inclination to laugh as well as 
I was able. True to his promise, the second night 
after our arrival was dedicated to a dance. Tfie 
only preparation for it consisted in the production 
of a number of large wax candles, resembling 
torches in size, and the concoction of several big 
vessels of drink, in which Jamaica rum, some 
fresh juice of the sugar-cane, and a quantity of 
powdered peppers were the chief ingredients. The 
music consisted of a violin, two guitars, and a 
queer Indian instrument, resembling a bow, the 
string of which, if the critic will pardon the bull, 
was a brass wire drawn tight by means of a perfo- 
rated gourd, and beaten with a stick, held by the 
performer between his thumb and forefinger. 

I cannot attempt to describe the dance, which, 
not over delicate at the outset, became outrageous 
as the calabashes of liquor began to circulate. 
Both sexes drank and danced, until most could 
neither drink nor dance ; and then, it seemed to 
me, they all got into a general quarrel, in which 
the musicians broke their respective instruments 
over each other's heads, then cried, embraced, and 
were friends again. I did not wait for the end cf 



HO, EOIl THE MAINLAND ! 37 

the debauch, which soon ceased to be amusing; 
but, with Antonio, stole away, and paddled off to 
the little schooner, where the last sounds that rang 
in my ears were the shouts and discordant songs 
of the revellers. 

Providence, it can easily be understood, offered 
few attractions to an artist minus the materials for 
pursuing his vocation ; and I was delighted when 
I learned that the New Granadian schooner was 
on the eve of her departure for San Juan de Nica- 
ragua. Her captain readily consented to land me 
at Bluefields, and our patron magnificently waived 
all claims to the tortoise-shells which we had ob- 
tained at " El Roncador." I had no difficulty in 
selling them to the captain of " El General Boli- 
var" for the unexpected sum of three hundred dol- 
lars. Fifty dollars of these I gave to the negro 
Erank, who was quite at home in Providence. I 
offered to divide the rest with Antonio, but he re- 
fused to receive any portion of it, and insisted on 
accompanying me without recompence. " You are 
my brother/' said he, " and I will not leave you.-" 
And here I may add that, in all my wanderings, 
he was my constant companion and firm and faith- 
ful friend. His history, a wild and wonderful tale, 
I shall some day lay before the world : for Antonio 
was of regal stock, the son and lieutenant of Chi- 
chen Pat, one of the last and bravest of the chiefs 
of Yucatan, who lost his life, under the very walls 
of Merida, in the last unsuccessful rising of the 
aborigines ; and I blush to add that the fatal bul- 
let which slew the hope of the Indians was sped 
from the rifle of an American mercenary ! 



38 



THE MOSQUITO SHORE* 



CHAPTER III. 




3=M HE approach to the coast, near 
Bluefields, holds out no delusions, 
i The shore is flat, and in all re- 
spects tame and uninteresting. A white line of 
sand, a green belt of trees, with no relief except 
here and there a solitary palm, and a few blue hills in 
the distance, are the only objects which are offered 
to the expectant eyes of the voyager. A nearer 
approach reveals a large lagoon, protected by a 
narrow belt of sand, covered, on the inner side, 
•with a dense mass of mangrove trees ; and this is 
the harbour of Bluefields. The entrance is narrow, 
but not difficulty at the foot of a high, rocky bluff, 
which completely commands the passage. 

The town, or rather the collection of huts called 
by that name, lies nearly nine miles from the en- 
trance. After much tacking, and backing, and 



TOWN OP BIXEFIELDS. 39 

filling, to avoid the innumerable banks and shal- 
lows in the lagoon, we finally arrived at the an- 
chorage. We had hardly got our anchor down, 
before we were boarded by a very pompous black 
man, dressed in a shirt of red check, pantaloons of 
white cotton cloth, and a glazed straw hat, with 
feet innocent of shoes, whose office nobody knew, 
further than that he was called " Admiral Rod- 
ney/' and was an important functionary in the 
u Mosquito Kingdom. v He bustled about, in an 
extraordinary way, but his final purpose seemed 
narrowed down to getting a dram and pocketing a 
couple of dollars, slily slipped into his hand by the 
captain just before he got over the side. When 
he had left, we were told that we could go on 
shore. 

Bluefields is an imperial city, the residence of 
the court of the Mosquito Kingdom, and therefore 
merits a particular description. As I have said, it 
is a collection of the rudest possible thatched huts. 
Among them are two or three framed buildings, 
one of which is the residence of a Mr. Bell, an 
Englishman, with whom, as I afterwards learned, 
resided that world-renowned monarch, " George 
William Clarence, King of all the Mosquitos." 
The site of the huts is picturesque, being upon 
comparatively high ground, at a point where a 
considerable stream from the interior enters the 
lagoon. There are two villages : the principal 
one, or Bluefields proper, which is much the 
largest, containing perhaps five hundred people; 
and " Carlsruhe/' a kind of dependency, so named 
by a colony of Prussians who had attempted to 
establish themselves here, but whose colony, at the 
time of my visit, had utterly failed. Out of more 



40 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

than a hundred of the poor people, who had been 
induced to come here, but three or four were left, 
existing in a. state of great debility and distress. 
Most of their companions had died, but a few had 
escaped to the interior, where they bear convincing 
witness to the wickedness of attempting to found 
colonies, from northern climates, on low, pestife- 
rous shores, under the tropics. 

Among the huts were many palm and plantain 
trees, with detached stalks of the papaya, laden 
with its large golden fruit. The shore was lined 
with canoes, pitpans and dories, hollowed from the 
trunks of trees, all sharp, trim, and graceful in 
shape. The natives propel them, with great 
rapidity, by single broad-bladed paddles, struck 
vertically in the water, first on one side, and then 
on the other.* 

There was a large assemblage on the beach when 
we landed, but I was amazed to find that, with few 
exceptions, they were all unmitigated negroes, or 
Sambos (i.e, mixed negro and Indian). I had 
heard of the Mosquito shore as occupied by the 
Mosquito Indians, but soon found that there were 
few, if any, pure Indians on the entire coast. The 
miserable people who go by that name are, in 
reality, Sambos, having a considerable intermix- 
ture of trader blood from Jamaica, with which 

* The dory is usually hollowed from a solid piece of 
mahogany or cedar, and is from twenty-five to fifty feet in 
length. This kind of vessel is found so buoyant and safe, 
that persons accustomed to the management of it often 
fearlessly venture out to sea, in weather when it might be 
unsafe to trust to vessels of a larger kind. 

The pitpan is another variety of canoe, excelling the dory 
in point of speed. It is of the same material, differing only 
in being flat-bottomed. 



BLTJEFIELDS. 41 

island the coast has its principal relations. The 
arrival of the traders on the shore is the signal for 
unrestrained debauchery, always preluded by the 
traders baptizing, in a manner not remarkable for 
its delicacy or gravity, all children born since their 
last visit, in whom there is any decided indication 
of white blood. The names given on these oc- 
casions are as fantastic as the ceremony, and great 
liberties are taken with the cognomens of all 
notabilities, living and dead, from "Pompey" 
down to " Wellington." 

Our first concern in Biuefields was to get a roof 
to shelter us, which we finally succeeded in doing, 
through the intervention of the captain of the 
"Bolivar." That is to say, a dilapidated negro 
from Jamaica, hearing that I had just left that de- 
lectable island, claimed me as his countryman, and 
gave me a little deserted thatched hut, the walls of 
which were composed of a kind of wicker work of 
upright canes, interwoven with palm leaves. This 
structure had served him, in the days of his pro- 
sperity, as a kitchen. It was not more than ten 
feet square, but would admit a hammock, hung 
diagonally from one corner to the other. To this 
abbreviated establishment I moved my few 
damaged effects, and in the course of the day 
completely domesticated myself. Antonio ex- 
hibited the greatest aptness and industry in 
making our quarters comfortable, and evinced an 
elasticity and cheerfulness of manner unknown 
before. In the evening he responded to the 
latent inquiry of my looks, by saying that his 
heart had become lighter since he had reached the 
continent, and that his Lord gave promise of better 
davs. 



42 THE MOSQUITO SHOllE. 

" Look V lie exclaimed, as lie held up his talis- 
man before my eyes. It emitted a pale light, 
which seemed to come from it in pulsations, or 
radiating circles. It may have been fancy, but if 
so, I am not prepared to say that all which we 
deem real is not a dream and a delusion ! 

My host was a man of more pretensions than 
Captain Ponto, but otherwise very much of the 
same order of African architecture. From his 
cautious silence on the subject of his arrival on 
the coast, I inferred that he had been brought out 
as a slave, some thirty-five or forty years ago, 
when several planters from Jamaica attempted to 
establish themselves here. However that may 
have been, he now called himself a " merchant/' 
and appeared proud of a little collection of 
<c osnaburgs," a few red bandana handkerchiefs, 
flanked by a dingy cask of what the Yankees 
would call " the rale critter/' which occupied one 
corner of his house, or rather hut. He brooded 
over these with unremitting care, although I 
believe I was his only customer (to the extent of 
a few fish-hooks), during my stay in Bluefields. 
He called himself Hodgson, (the name, as I 
afterwards learned, of one of the old British su- 
perintendents), and based his hopes of family 
immortality upon a son, whom he respectfully 
called Mister James Hodgson, and who was, he 
said, principal counsellor to the king. This in- 
formation, communicated to me within two hours 
after my arrival, led me to believe myself in the 
line of favourable presentation at court. But I 
found out afterwards that this promising scion of 
the house of Hodgson was " under a cloud," and 
had lost the sunshine of imperial favour, in conse- 



MOSQUITO EOIALTT. 43 

quence of having made some most indiscreet 
confessions when taken a prisoner a few years 
before by the Nicaraguans. However, I was not 
destined to pine away my days in devising plans 
to obtain an introduction to his Mosquito Majesty. 
For, rising early on the morning subsequent to my 
arrival, I started out to see the sights of Bluefields. 
Following a broad path, leading to a grove of cocoa- 
nut trees, which shadowed over the river, tall and 
trim, I met a white man, of thin and serious 
visage, who eyed me curiously for a moment, 
bowed slightly, and passed on in silence. The 
distant air of an Englishman, on meeting an 
American, is generally reciprocated by equally 
frigid formality. Sol stared coldly, bowed stiffly, 
and also passed on. I smiled to think what a deal 
of affectation had been wasted on both sides, for it 
would have been unnatural if two white men were 
not glad to see each others' faces in a land of ebony 
like this. So I involuntarily turned half round, 
just in time to witness a similar evolution on the 
part of my thin friend. It was evident that his 
thoughts were but reflections of my own, and being 
the younger of the two, I retraced my steps, and 
approached him with a laughing " Good morning ¥* 
He responded to my salutation with an equally 
pregnant " Good morning, " at the same time rais- 
ing his hand to his ear, in token of being hard of 
hearing. Conversation opened, and I at once found 
I was in the presence of a man of superior educa- 
tion, large experience, and altogether out of place 
in the Mosquito metropolis. After a long walk, in 
which we passed a rough broad structure, sur- 
mounted by a stumpy pole, supporting a small 
flag — a sort of hybrid between the Union Jack and 



44 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

the " Stars and Stripes"— called by Mr. Bell the 
" House of Justice," I accepted his invitation to 
accompany him home to coffee. 

His house was a plain building of rough boards, 
with several small rooms, all opening into the 
principal apartment, in which I was invited to sit 
down. A sleepy-looking black girl, with an enor- 
mous shock of frizzled hair, was sweeping the floor, 
in a languid, mechanical way, calculated to super- 
induce yawning, even after a brisk morning walk. 
The partitions were hung with many prints, in 
which a Her Most Gracious Majesty" appeared in 
all the multiform glory of steel, lithograph, and 
chromotint. A gun or two, a table in the corner, 
supporting a confused collection of books and 
papers, with some ropes, boots, and iron grapnels 
beneath, a few chairs, a Yankee clock, and a table, 
completed the furniture and decoration of the 
room. I am thus particular in this inventory for 
reasons which will afterwards appear. 

At a word from Mr. Bell, the torpid black girl 
disappeared for a few moments, and then came 
back with some cups and a pot of coffee. I ob- 
served that there were three cups, and that my host 
filled them all, which I thought a little singular, 
since there were but two of us. A faint, momen- 
tary suspicion crossed my mind, that the female 
polypus stood in some such relation to my host as 
to warrant her in honouring us with her company. 
But, instead of doing so, she unceremoniously 
pushed open a door in the corner, and curtly ejacu- 
lated to some unseen occupant, " Get up !" There 
was a kind of querulous response, and directly a 
thumping and muttering, as of some person who re- 
garded himself as unreasonably disturbed. Mean- 



MOSQUITO ROYALTY. 45 

while we had each finished our first cup of coffee, 
and were proceeding with a second, when the door 
in the corner opened, and a black boy, or what an 
American would be apt to call a " young darkey/' 
apparently nineteen or twenty years old, shuffled 
up to the table. He wore only a shirt, unbuttoned 
at the throat, and cotton pantaloons, scarcely but- 
toned at all. He nodded to my entertainer with a 
drawling " Morning sir !" and sat down to the third 
cup of coffee. My host seemed to take no notice 
of him, and we continued our conversation. Soon 
after the sloven youth got up, took his hat, and 
slowly walked down the path to the river, where I 
afterwards saw him washing his face in the stream. 

As I was about leaving, Mr. Bell kindly volun- 
teered his services to me, in any way they might be 
made available. I thanked him, and suggested 
that, having no object to accomplish except to 
u scare up" adventures and seek out novel sights, I 
should be obliged to him for an introduction to the 
king, at some future day, after Antonio should have 
succeeded in rejuvenating my suit of ceremony, now 
rather rusty from saturation with salt water. He 
smiled faintly, and said, as for that matter, there 
need be no delay ; and, stepping to the door, 
shouted to the black youth by the river, and 
beckoned to him to come up the bank. The youth 
put on his hat hurriedly, and obeyed. " Perhaps 
you are not aware that is the king?" observed my 
host, with a contemptuous smile. I made no reply, 
.as the youth was at hand. He took off his hat 
xespectfully, but there was no introduction in the 
case, beyond the quiet observation, " George, this 
gentleman has come to see you ; sit down I" 

I soon saw who was the real " kins;" in Blue- 



46 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

fields. " George/' I think, had also a notion of his 
own on the subject, but was kept in such strict 
subordination that he never manifested it by words. 
I found him shy, but not without the elements of 
an ordinary English education, which he had 
received in England. He is nothing more or less 
than a negro, with hardly a perceptible trace of 
Indian blood, and would pass at the South for u a 
likely young fellow, worth twelve hundred dollars 
as a body-servant I" 

The second day after my arrival was Sunday, and 
in the forenoon Mr. Bell read the service of the 
English Church, in the " House of Justice." There 
were perhaps a dozen persons present, among them 
the king, who was now dressed plainly and becom- 
ingly, and who conducted himself with entire pro- 
priety. I could not see that he was treated with 
any special consideration ; while Mr. Bell received 
marked deference. 

It is a curious fact that although the English 
have had relations, more or less intimate, with this 
shore, ever since the pirates made it their retreat, 
during the glorious days of the buccaneers, they 
have never introduced the Gospel. The religion 
of the " kingdom" was declared by the late king, 
in his will, to be " the Established Church of Eng- 
land," but the Established Church has never taken 
steps to bring the natives within its aristocratic 
fold. Several dissenting missionaries have made 
attempts to settle on the coast, but as the British 
officers, and agents never favoured them, they have 
met with no success. Besides, the Sambos are 
strongly attached to heathenish rites, half African 
and half Indian, in which what they call rt biff 
drunk" is not the least remarkable feature. Some 



GROG AND THE GOSPEL. 47 

years ago a missionary, named Pilley, arrived at 
Sandy Bay, for the purpose of reclaiming the 
u lost sheep/' A house was found for him, and he 
commenced preaching, and for a few Sundays en- 
ticed some of the leading Sambos to hear him, by 
giving them each a glass of grog. At length, one 
Sabbath afternoon, a considerable number of the 
natives attended to hear the stranger talk, and to 
receive the usual spiritual consolation. But the 
demijohn of the worthy minister had been ex- 
hausted. He nevertheless sought to compensate 
for the deficiency by a more vehement display of 
eloquence, and for a time flattered himself that he 
was producing a lasting impression. His discourse^ 
however, was suddenly interrupted by one of the 
chiefs, who rose and indignantly exclaimed, " AH 
preach — no grog — no good !" and with a respon- 
sive '" No good I" the audience followed him, as he 
stalked away, leaving the astonished preacher to 
finish his discourse to two or three Englishmen, 
present. 

In Bluefields the natives are kept in more re- 
straint than elsewhere on the coast ; but even here 
it has been found impossible to suppress their tra- 
ditional practices, especially when connected with 
their superstitions. My venerable friend Hodgson, 
after " service," informed me that a funeral was to 
take place, at a small settlement a few miles up 
the river, and volunteered to escort me thither in 
his pitpan, if Antonio would undertake to do the 
paddling. The suggestion was very acceptable, 
and, after a very frugal dinner on roast fish and 
boiled plantains, we set out. But we were not 
alone ; we found dozens of pitpans starting for the 
same destination, filled with men and women. It 



48 THE MOSQUITO SHOHE. 

is impossible to imagine a more picturesque specta- 
cle than these light and graceful boats, with occu- 
pants dressed in the brightest colours, darting over 
the placid waters of the river, now gay in the sun- 
light, and anon sobered in the shadows of the 
trees which studded the banks. There was a 
keen strife among the rowers, who, amid shouts 
and screeches, in which both men and women 
joined, exerted themselves to the utmost. Even 
Antonio smiled at the scene, but it was half con- 
temptuously, for he maintained, in respect to these 
mongrels, the reserve of conscious superiority. 

Less than an hour brought us in view of a little 
collection of huts, grouped on the shore, under the 
shadow of a cluster of palm-trees, which, from a 
distance, presented a picture of entrancing beauty. 
A large group of natives had already collected on 
the shore, and, as we came near, we heard the 
monotonous beating of the native drum, or turn* 
turn, relieved by an occasional low, deep blast on a 
large hollow pipe, which sounded more like the 
distant bellowing of an ox than anything else I 
ever heard. In the pauses we distinguished sup- 
pressed wails, which continued for a minute per- 
haps, and were then followed by the monotonous 
drum and droning pipe. The descriptions of simi- 
lar scenes in Central Africa, given to us by Clap- 
perton and Mungo Park, recurred to me with 
wonderful vividness, and left the impression that 
the ceremonies going on were rather African than 
American in their origin. 

On advancing to the huts, and the centre of the 
group, I found a small pitpan cut in half, in one 
part of which, wrapped in cotton cloth, was the 
dead body of a man of middle age, much emaciated, 



A MOSQUITO BURIAL. 49 

and horribly disfigured by what is called the bulpis, 
a species of leprosy, which is almost universal on 
the coast, and which, with the aid of rum, has 
already reduced the population to one half what it 
was twenty years ago. This disgusting disease is 
held in such terror by the Indians of the interior, 
that they have prohibited all sexual relations be- 
tween their people and the Sambos of the coast, 
under the penalty of death. 

Around the pitpan were stationed a number of 
women, with palm branches, to keep off the flies, 
which swarmed around the already festering corpse. 
Their frizzled hair started from their heads like 
the snakes on the brow of the fabled Gorgon, and 
they swayed their bodies to and fro, keeping a kind 
of treadmill step to the measure of the doleful 
tum-tum. With the exception of the men who 
beat the drum and blew the pipe, these women 
appeared to be the only persons at all interested in 
the proceedings. The rest were standing in groups, 
or squatted at the roots of the palm-trees. I was 
beginning to get tired of the performance, when, 
with a suddenness which startled even the women 
around the corpse, four men, entirely naked, ex- 
cepting a cloth wrapped round their loins, and 
daubed over with variously coloured clays, rushed 
from the interior of one of the huts, and, hastily 
fastening a piece of rope to the half of the pitpan 
containing the corpse, dashed away towards the 
woods, dragging it after them, like a sledge. The 
women with the Gorgon heads, and the men with 
the drum and trumpet, followed them on the run, 
each keeping time on his respective instrument. 
The spectators all hurried after, in a confused mass, 
while a big negro, catching up the remaining half 

E 



50 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

of the pitpan, placed it on his head, and trotted 
behind the crowd. 

The men bearing the corpse entered the woods. 
and the mass of the spectators, jostling each other 
in the narrow path, kept up the same rapid pace. 
At the distance of perhaps two hundred yards, 
there was an open place, covered with low, dank, 
tangled nnderbush, still wet from the rain of the 
preceding night, which, although unmarked by any 
sign, I took to be the burial place. When I came 
up, the half of the pitpan containing the body had 
been put in a shallow trench. The other half was 
then inverted over it. The Gorgon-headed women- 
threw in their palm-branches, and the painted 
negroes rapidly filled in the earth. While this was 
going on, some men were collecting sticks and 
palm-branches, with which a little hut was hastily 
built over the grave. In this was placed an earthen 
vessel, filled with water. The turtle-spear of the 
dead man was stuck deep in the ground at his 
head, and a fantastic fellow, with an old musket, 
discharged three or four rounds over the spot. 

This done, the entire crowd started back in the 
same manner it had come. No sooner, however, 
did the painted men reach the village, than, seiz- 
ing some heavy machetes, they commenced cutting 
down the palm-trees which stood around the hut 
that had been occupied by the dead Sambo. It 
was done silently, in the most hasty manner, and 
when finished, they ran down to the river, and 
plunged out of sight in the water — a kind of lus- 
tration or purifying rite. They remained in the 
water a few moments, then hurried back to the 
hut from which they had issued, and disap- 
peared. 



MOSQUITO SUPERSTITIONS. 51 

This savage and apparently unmeaning cere- 
mony was explained to me by Hodgson as follows : 
Death is supposed by the Sambos to result from 
the influences of a demon, called Widasha, who, 
ogre-like, feeds upon the bodies of the dead. To 
rescue the corpse from this fate, it is necessary to 
lull the demon to sleep, and then steal away the 
body and bury it, after which it is safe. To this 
end they bring in the aid of the drowsy drum and 
droning pipe, and the women go through a slow 
and soothing dance. Meanwhile, in the recesses 
of some hut, where they cannot be seen by Wida- 
sha, a certain number of men carefully disguise 
themselves, so that they may not afterwards be 
recognised and tormented ; and when the demon 
is supposed to have been lulled to sleep, they seize 
the moment to bury the body. I could, not ascer- 
tain any reason for cutting down the palm-trees, 
except that it had always been practised by their 
ancestors. As the palm-tree is of slow growth, it 
has resulted, from this custom, that they have 
nearly disappeared from some parts of the coast. 
I could not learn that it was the habit to plant a 
cocoa-nut tree upon the birth of a child, as in 
some parts of Africa, where the tree receives a 
common name with the infant, and the annual 
rings on its trunk mark his age. 

If the water disappears from the earthen vessel 
placed on the grave, — which, as the ware is porous, 
it seldom fails to do in the course of a few days, — 
it is taken as evidence that it has been consumed 
by the dead man, and that he has escaped the maw 
of Widasha. This ascertained, preparations are at 
once made for what is called a Seekroe, or Feast of 
the Dead — an orgie which I afterwards witnessed 



52 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

higher up the coast, and which will be described in 
due course. 

The negroes brought originally from Jamaica, as 
also most of their descendants, hold these barbar- 
ous practices in contempt, and bury their dead, as 
they say, " English-gentleman fashion." But while 
these practices are discountenanced and prohibited 
in Bluefields proper, they arc, nevertheless, univer- 
sal elsewhere on the Mosquito Shore. 

I cannot omit mentioning here, that I paid a 
visit both to the establishment and the burial-place 
of the ill-fated Prussian colony. Many of the 
houses, now rotting down, had been brought out 
from Europe, and all around them were wheels of 
carts falling in pieces, harnesses dropping apart, 
and ploughs and instruments of cultivation rusting 
away, or slowly burying themselves in the earth. 
They told a sad story of ignorance on the part of 
the projectors of the establishment, and of the dis- 
appointments and sufferings of their victims. The 
folly of attempting to plant an agricultural colony, 
from the north of Europe, on low, murky, tropical 
shores, is inconceivable. Again and again the at- 
tempt has been made, on this coast, and as often it 
has terminated in disaster and death. It was tried 
by the French at Tehuantepec and Cape Gracias ; 
by the English at Vera Paz and Black River ; and 
by the Belgians and Prussians at Santo Tomas and 
Bluefields. In no instance did these establish- 
ments survive a second year, nor in a single in- 
stance did a tenth of the poor colonists escape the 
grave. The Prussians at Bluefields suffered fear- 
fully. At one time, within four months after their 
arrival, out of more than a hundred, there were 
not enough retaining their health to bury the 



AN ILL-FATED COLONY. 53 

dead, much, less to attend to the sick. The na- 
tives, jealous of the strangers, would neither assist 
nor come near them/ and absolutely refused to sell 
them the scanty food requisite for their subsist- 
ence. This feeling was rather encouraged than 
otherwise by the traders on the coast, who desired 
to retain the monopoly of trade, as they had always 
done a preponderance of influence among the na- 
tives. They procured the revocation of the grant 
which had been made to the Messrs. Shepherd of 
San Juan, from whom the Prussians had purchased 
a doubtful title, and threatened the stricken stran- 
gers with forcible expulsion. Death, however, soon 
relieved them from taking overt measures ; and, 
at the time of my visit, two or three haggard 
wretches, whose languid blue eyes and flaxen hair 
contrasted painfully with the blotched visages of 
the brutal Sambos, were all that remained of the 
unfortunate Prussian colony. The burying place 
was a small opening in the bush, where rank vines 
sweltered over the sunken graves, a spot reeking 
with miasmatic damps, from which I retreated 
with a shudder. I could wish no worse punish- 
ment to the originators of that fatal, not to say 
criminal enterprise, than that they should stand 
there, as I stood, that Conscience might hiss in 
their ears, "Behold thy work \" 



54 



THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 



CHAPTER IV. 





MADE many inquiries in Bluefields, 
in order to decide on my future move- 
ments; to all of which Mr. Bell gave 
me most intelligent answers. At 
I first I proposed to ascend the Blue- 
fields river, which takes its rise in the mountainous 
district of Segovia in Nicaragua, and which is re- 
ported to be navigable for canoes to within a 
short distance of the great lakes of that State, 
from which it is only separated by a narrow range 
of mountains. Upon its banks dwell several tribes 
of pure Indians, the Cookras, now but few in 
number, and the Ramas, a large and. docile tribe. 
Several of the latter visited Bluefields while I was 
there, bringing down dories and pitpans rudely 



UP, AND AWAY ! 55 

blocked out, which are afterwards finished by per- 
sons expert in that art. They generally speak 
Spanish, hut I could not learn from them that 
their country was in any respect remarkable, or 
that it held out any prospect of compensation for 
a visit, unless it were an indefinite amount of hun- 
ger and hard work. So, although I had purchased 
a canoe, and made other preparations for ascending 
the river, I determined to proceed northward along 
i;he coast, and, embarking in some turtling vessel 
from Cape Gracias, proceed to San Juan, and 
penetrate into the interior by the river of the same 
name. 

This, I ascertained, was all the more easy to ac- 
complish, since the whole Mosquito shore is lined 
with lagoons, only separated from the sea by nar- 
tow strips of land, and so connected with each 
other as to afford an interior navigation for canoes 
from Bluefields to Gracias. So, procuring the ad- 
ditional services of a young Poyas or Paya Indian, 
who had been left from a trading schooner, I bade 
"His Mosquito Majesty" and his governor good- 
bye, took an affectionate farewell of old Hodgson, 
and, with Antonio, sailed away to the northern 
extremity of the lagoon, having spent exactly a 
week in Bluefields. 

It was a bright morning, and our little sail, filled 
with the fresh sea-breeze, carried us gaily through 
the water. Antonio carefully steered the boat, and 
my Poyer boy sat like a bronze figure-head in the 
bow, while I reclined in the centre luxuriously 
rsmoking a cigar. The white herons flapped lazily 
around us, and flocks of screaming curlews whirled 
rapidly over our heads. I could scarcely compre- 
hend the novel reality of my position. The Robin- 



56 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

son Crusoe-ish feeling of my youth came back in 
all its freshness ; I had my own boat, and for 
companions a descendant of an aboriginal prince, 
the possessor of a mysterious talisman, devotedly 
attached to me ; half friend, half protector, and a 
second strange Indian, from some unknown inte- 
rior, silent as the unwilling genii whom the power- 
full spell of Solyman kept in obedience to the weird 
necromancers of the East. It was a strange posi- 
tion and fellowship for one who, scarcely three 
months before, had carefully cultivated the friendly 
interests of Mr. Sly, with sinister designs on the 
plethoric treasury of the Art Union in New York! 

I gave myself up to the delicious novelty, and 
that sense of absolute independence which only a 
complete separation from the moving world can 
inspire, and passed the entire day in a trance of 
dreamy delight. I subsequently passed many simi- 
lar days, but this stands out in the long perspec- 
tive as one of unalloyed happiness. cc 'Twas worth 
ten years of common life,^ and neither age nor 
suffering can efface its bright impress from the 
crowded tablet of my memory ! 

It was about four o' clock in the afternoon, when 
we reached the northern extremity of the lagoon, 
at a place called the Haulover, from the circum- 
stance that, to avoid going outside in the open sea, 
it is customary for the natives to drag their canoes 
across the narrow neck of sand which separates 
Bluefields from the next northern or Pearl Kay 
Lagoon. t Occasionally, after long and heavy winds 
from the eastward, the waters are forced into the 
lagoons, so as to overflow the belt of land which 
divides them when the navigation is uninterrupted. 
In order to be able to renew our voyage early 



LIFE OX THE LAGOONS. 57 

next morning, our few effects and stores were car- 
ried across the portage, over which our united 
strength was sufficient to drag the dory without 
difficulty. All this was done with prompt alacrity 
on the part of Antonio and the Poyer boy, who 
would not allow me to exert myself in the slightest. 
The transit was effected in less than an hour, and 
then we proceeded to make our camp for the night, 
on the beach. Our little sail, supported over the 
canoe by poles, answered the purpose of a tent. 
And as for food, without going fifty yards from our 
fire, I shot half a dozen curlews, which, when 
broiled, are certainly a passable bird. Meanwhile, 
the Poyer boy, carefully wading in the lagoon, 
with a light spear, had struck several fish, of varie- 
ties, known as snook and grouper ; and Antonio 
had collected a bagful of oysters, of which there 
appeared to be vast banks, covered only by a foot 
or two of water. They were not pearl oysters, as 
might be inferred from the name of the lagoon, but 
similar to those found on our own shores, except 
smaller, and growing in clusters of ten or a dozen 
each. Eaten with that relishing sauce, known 
among travellers as "hunger sauce," I found them 
something more than excellent, — they were deli- 
cious. 

^N hile I opened oysters, by way of helping my- 
self to my princely first course, the Indians busied 
themselves with the fish and birds. I watched their 
proceedings with no little interest, and as their 
mode of baking fish has never been set forth in the 
cookery books, I give it for the benefit of the gas- 
tronomic world in general, which, I take it, is not 
above learning a good thing, even from a Poyer 
Indian boy. A hole having been dug in the sand. 



58 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

it was filled with dry branches, which were set on 
fire. In a few minutes the fire subsided in a bed of 
glowing coals. The largest of the fish, a grouper, 
weighing perhaps five pounds, had been cleaned 
and stuffed with pieces of the smaller fish, a few 
oysters, some sliced plantains, and some slips of the 
bark of the pimento or pepper-tree. Duly sprinkled 
with salt, it was carefully wrapped in the broad 
green leaves of the plantain, and the coals raked 
open, put in the centre of the glowing embers, with 
which it was rapidly covered. Half an hour after- 
wards, by which time I began to believe it had been 
reduced to ashes, the bed was raked open again and 
the fish taken out. The outer leaves of the wrapper 
were burned, but the inner folds were entire, and 
when they were unrolled, like the cerements of a 
mummy, they revealed the fish, £s cooked to a 
charm/' and preserving all the rich juices absorbed 
in the flesh, which would have been carried off by 
the heat in the ordinary modes of cooking. I after- 
wards adopted the same process with nearly every 
variety of large game, and found it, like patent 
medicines, of " universal application," Commend 
me to a young waree " done brown" in like manner, 
as a dish fit for a king. But of that anon. 

By and by the night came on, but not as it comes 
in our northern latitudes. Night, under the tropics, 
falls like a curtain. The sun goes down with a 
glow, intense, but brief. There are no soft and lin- 
gering twilight adieus, and stars lighting up one 
by one. They come a laughing group, trooping over 
the skies', like bright-eyed children relieved from 
school. Reflected in the lagoon, they seemed to 
chase each other in amorous play, printing spark- 
ling kisses on each other's luminous lips. The low 



NIGHT TJNDEE THE TROPICS. 59 

shores, lined with the heavy-foliaged mangroves, 
looked like a frame of massive, antique carving, 
around the vast mirror of the lagoon, across whose 
surface streamed a silvery shaft of light from the 
evening star, palpitating like a young bride, low in 
the horizon. Then there were whispered " voices 
of the night," the drowsy winds talking themselves 
to sleep among the trees, and the little ripples of 
the lagoon pattering with liquid feet along the sandy 
shore. The distant monotonous beatings of the 
sea, and an occasional sullen plunge of some ma- 
rine animal, which served to open momentarily the 
eyelids drooping in slumbrous sympathy with the 
scene — these were the elements which entranced 
me during the long, delicious hours of my first 
evening alone with Nature, on the Mosquito 
Shore ! 

My dreams that night so blended themselves 
with the reality, that I could not now separate 
them if I would, and to this day I hardly know if 
I slept at all. So completely did my soul go out, 
and melt and harmonise itself with the scene, that 
I began to comprehend the Oriental doctrine of 
emanations and absorptions, which teaches that, as 
the body of man springs from the earth, and after 
a brief space mingles again with it, so his soul, 
part of the Great Spirit of the Universe, flutters 
away like a dove from its nest, only to return after 
a weary flight, to fold its wings and once more melt 
away in Nature's immortal heart, and uncreated 
and eternal essence. 

Before the dawn of .day, the ever-watchful An- 
tonio had prepared the indispensable cup of coffee, 
which is the tropical specific against the malignant 
night-damps ; and the first rays of the sun shot 



60 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

over the trees, only to fall on our sail, bellying with 
the fresh and invigorating sea-breeze. We laid our 
course for the mouth of a river called Wawashaan 
(hwas or wass, in the dialect of the interior, signi- 
fying water) , which enters the lagoon, about twenty 
miles to the northward of the Haulover. Here we 
were told there was a settlement, which I deter- 
mined to visit. As the day advanced, the breeze 
subsided, and we made slow progress. So we pad- 
dled to the shore of one of the numerous islands in 
the lagoon, to avoid the hot sun and await the 
freshening of the breeze in the afternoon. The 
island on which we landed appeared to be higher 
than any of the others, and was moreover rendered 
doubly attractive by a number of tall cocoa-nut 
palms, that clustered near the beach. We ran our 
boat ashore in a little cove, where there were traces 
of fires, and other indications that it was a favour- 
ite stopping-place with the natives. A narrow trail 
led inward to the palm-trees. Leaving the Poyer 
boy with the canoe, Antonio and myself followed 
the blind path, and soon came to an open space 
covered with plantain-trees, now much choked with 
bushes, but heavily laden with fruit. The palms, 
too, were clustering with nuts, of which we could 
not, of course, neglect to take in a supply. Near 
the trees we found the foundations of a house, after 
the European plan, and, not far from it, one or two 
rough grave- stones, on which inscriptions had been 
rudely traced; but they were now too much obli- 
terated to be read. I could only make out the 
figure of a cross on one of them, and the name 
" San Andres," which is an island off the coast, 
where it is probable the occupant of this lonely 
grave was born. 



CLIMBING AFTER COCOAS. 



61 



To obtain the cocoa-nuts, which otherwise could 

only have been got at 
by cutting down and 
destroying the trees, 
Antonio prepared to 
climb after them. He 
had brought a kind 
of sack of coarse net- 
ting, which he tied 
about his neck. He 
next cut a long sec- 
tion of one of the nu- 
merous tough vines 
which abound in the 
tropics, with which 
he commenced braid- 
ing a large hoop 
around one of the 
trees. After this was 
done, he slipped it 
over his head and 
down to his waist, 
gave it a few trials 
of strength, and then 
began his ascent, 
literally walking up 
the tree. It was a 
curious feat, and 
worth a description. 
Leaning back in this 
hoop, he planted his 
feet firmly against 
the trunk, clinging 
to which, first with 
one hand, and then 




CLIMBING AFTER COCOAS. 



62 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

with the other, lie worked up the hoop, taking a 
step with every upward movement. Nothing loth 
to exhibit his skill, in a minute he was sixty feet 
from the ground, leaning back securely in his hoop, 
and filling his sack with the nuts. This done, 
he swung his load over his shoulders, grasped the 
tree in his arms, let the hoop fall, and slid rapidly 
to the ground. The whole occupied less time than 
I have consumed in writing an account of it. 

Loaded with nuts, plantains, and a species of 
anona called soursop, we returned to the boat, 
where the water, with which the green cocoa-nuts 
are filled, tempered with a little Jamaica rum, 
para a matar los animalicos, "to kill the animal- 
cule," as the Spanish say, made a cooling and re- 
freshing beverage. 

In the afternoon we again embarked, and before 
dark reached the mouth of the Wawashaan, which 
looked like a narrow arm of the lagoon, but which, 
we found, when we entered, had considerable cur- 
rent, rendering necessary a brisk use of our paddles. 

The banks near the lagoon were low, and the 
ground back of them apparently swampy, and 
densely covered with mangrove trees. This tree is 
universal on the Mosquito coast, lining the shores 
of the lagoons and rivers as high up as the salt 
water reaches. It is unlike any other tree in the 
world. Peculiar to lands overflowed by the tides, 
its trunk starts at a height of from four to eight 
feet from the ground, supported by a radiating 
series of smooth, reddish-brown roots, for all the 
world like the prongs of an inverted candelabrum. 
These roots interlock with each other in such a 
manner that it is utterly impossible to penetrate 
between them, except by laboriously cutting one's 



THE MANGROVE. . 63 

way. And even then an active man would hardly 
be able to advance twenty feet in a day. The 
trunk is generally tall and straight, the branches 
numerous, but not long, and the leaves large and 
thick ; on the upper surface of a dark, glistening, 
unfading green, while below, of the downy whitish 
tint of the poplar leaf. Lining the shore in dense 
masses, the play of light on the leaves, as they are 
turned upwards by the wind, has the glad, billowy 
effect of a field of waving grain. The timber of the 
mangrove is sodden and heavy, and of no great 
utility ; but its bark is astringent, and excellent 
for tanning. Its manner of propagation is remark- 
able. The seed consists of a long bean-like stem, 
about the length and shape of a dipped candle, but 
thinner. It hangs from the upper limbs in thou- 
sands, and, when perfect, drops, point downwards, 
erect in the mud, where it speedily takes root, and 
shoots up to tangle still more the already tangled 
mangrove-swamp. Myriads of small oysters, called 
the mangrove- oysters, cling to the roots, among 
which active little crabs find shelter from the 
pursuit of their hereditary enemies, the long- 
legged and sharp-billed cranes, who have a pro- 
digious hankering after tender and infantile shell- 
fish. 

The Mosquito settlement is some miles up the 
river, and we were unable to reach it before dark ; 
so, on arriving at a spot where the ground became 
higher, and an open space appeared on the bank, 
we came to a halt for the night. "We had this 
time no fish for supper, but, instead, a couple 
of quams, a species of small turkey, which is not 
a handsome bird, but, nevertheless, delicate food. 
Many of these flew down to the shore, as night 



€4 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

came on, selecting the tops of the highest over- 
hanging trees for their roosting- places, and offering 
fine marks for my faithful double-barrelled gun. 

The mosquitoes proving rather troublesome at 
the edge of the water, I abandoned the canoe, and, 
spreading my blanket on the most elevated portion 
of the bank, near the fire, was soon asleep. Before 
midnight, however, I was roused by the sensation 
of innumerable objects, with sharp claws and cold 
bodies, crawling over me. I leaped up in alarm, 
and hastily shook off the invaders. I heard a 
crackling, rustling noise, as of rain on dry leaves, 
all around me, and by the dim light I saw that the 
ground was alive with crawling things, moving in 
an unbroken column towards the river. I felt 
them in the pockets of my coat, and hanging 
to my skirts. My nocturnal interview with the 
turtles at "El Roncador" recurred to me, and 
Coleridge's ghastly lines — 

" The very sea did rot — 

Oh ! that this should be !— 

And slimy things did cra^vl with legs 

Upon the slimy sea 1" 

Half fearing that it might be my own disordered 
fancy, I shouted to Antonio, who, quick as light, 
was at iny side. He stirred up the fire, and laughed 
outright. We had been invaded by an army of 
soldier-crabs, moving down from the high back- 
grounds. Antonio had selected his bed for the 
night nearest the river, and the fire, dividing the 
host, Jiad protected him, while it had turned a 
double column upon me. I could not myself help 
laughing at the incident, which certainly had the 
quality of novelty. I watched the moving legion 



BIVEK, WAWASHAAN. 65 

for an hour, but there was no perceptible decrease 
in the numbers. So I lay down again by the side 
of Antonio, and slept quietly until morning, when 
there were no more crabs to be seen, nor a trace 
of them, except that the ground had been minutely 
punctured all over by their sharp, multitudinous 
claws. 

It was rather late when we started up the river. 
We had not proceeded far before we came to an 
open space, where there were some rude huts, with 
canoes drawn up on the bank in front. A few 
men, nearly naked, shouted at us as we passed, in- 
quiring, in broken English, what we had to sell, 
evidently thinking that the white man could have 
no purpose there unless to trade. We passed 
other huts at intervals, which, however, had no 
signs of cultivation around them, except a few 
palm and plantain-trees, and an occasional small 
patch of yucas. The mangroves had now disap- 
peared, and the banks began to look inviting, 
covered, as they were, with large trees, including 
the caoba, or mahogany, and the gigantic ceiba, all 
loaded down with vines. Thousands of parrots 
passed over, with their peculiar short, heavy flut- 
ter, and loud, querulous note. In the early morn- 
ing, and towards night, they keep up the most 
vehement chattering, all talking and none listen- 
ing, after the manner of a Woman's Eights Con- 
vention. There were also gaudy macaws, which 
floated past like fragments of a rainbow. In 
common with the parrots, they always go in pairs, 
and when one is found alone, he is always silent 
and sad, and acts as if he were a lone widower, and 
meditated suicide. 

On the occasional sandy reaches we saw groups 

F 



66 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

of the Roseate Spoonbills, with their splendid plum- 
age. The whole body is rose-coloured; but the 
wings, towards the shoulders, and the feathers 
round the base of the neck, are of a bright scar- 
let, deepening to blood-red. But they form no 
exception to the law of compensations — in mecha- 
nics called equilibrium, and in mathematics equa- 
tions, since, while beautiful in plumage, they are 
ugly in shape. And I could not help fancying, 
when I saw them standing silent and melancholy 
on snags, contemplating themselves in the. water, 
that, as with some other kinds of birds, their bril- 
liant colours gave them no joy, coupled with so 
serious a drawback in form. I shot several, from 
which the Poyer boy selected the most beautiful 
feathers, which he afterwards interwove with others 
from the macaw, parrot, and egret, in a gorgeous 
head-dress, as a present to me. 

Towards noon we came to a cleared space, much 
the largest I had seen on the coast ; and as we ap- 
proached nearer, I saw a house of European con- 
struction, and a large field of sugar-cane. In strik- 
ing contrast with these evidences of industry and 
civilization, a Sambo or Mosquito, village, made up 
of squalid huts, half buried in the forest, filled out 
the foreground. I recognised it as the village of 
Wasswatla (literally Watertown), the place of our 
destination. It, nevertheless, looked so uninviting 
and miserable, that had I not been attracted by the 
Christian establishment in the distance, I should 
have returned incontinently to the lagoon. 

My unfavourable impressions were heightened 
on a nearer approach. As we pushed up our canoe 
to the shore, among a great variety of dories and 
other boats, the population of the village, including 



A EOYAL PASSPOET. 67 

a large number of dogs of low degree, swarmed 
down to survey us. The juveniles were utterly- 
naked, and most of the adults of both sexes had 
nothing more than a strip of a species of cloth, 
made of the inner bark of the ule, or India-rubber 
tree (resembling the tappa of the Society Island- 
ers), wrapped round their loins. There was scarcely 
one who was not disfigured by the blotches of the 
iulpis, and the hair of each stood out in frightful 
frizzles, " like the quills on the fretful porcupine." 
Most of the men carried a short spear, pointed 
with a common triangular file, carefully sharpened 
by rubbing on the stones, which, as I afterwards 
learned, is used for striking turtle. 

Forbidding as was the appearance of the assem- 
blage, none of its individuals evinced hostility, 
and when I jumped ashore, and saluted them with 
<c Good morning," they all responded, cc Mornin', 
sir !" brought out with an indescribable African 
drawl. Two or three of the number volunteered to 
lielp Antonio to draw up our boat, while I gave 
various orders, in default of knowing what else to 
do. Luckily, it occurred to me to produce a docu- 
ment, or pass, with which Mr. Bell had kindly 
furnished me before leaving Bluefields, and which 
all seemed to recognise, pointing to it respectfully, 
and ejaculating, " King paper ! King paper \" It 
was frequently called afterwards " the paper that 
talks/' This precious document, well engrossed 
on a sheet of foolscap, with a broad seal at the 
bottom, ran as follows : — 

"Jttosqttt'to Hmgfcrom. 

" George William Claeence, by the Grace of 
God, King of the Mosquito Territory, to our trusty 



68 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

and well-beloved officers and subjects, Greeting ! 
"We, by these presents, do give pass and licence to 
Samuel A. Bard, Esquire, to go freely through our 
kingdom, and to dwell therein ; and do further- 
more exhort and command our well-beloved officers 
and subjects aforesaid to give aid and hospitality to 
the aforesaid Samuel A. Bard, Esquire, whom we 
hold of high esteem and consideration. Given at 

Bluefields, this day of , in this the tenth 

year of our reign. w 

(Signed) 

« George K." 

The ejaculations of " King paper ! King paper V* 
were followed by loud shouts of " Capt'n ! Capt ; n P 
while two or three tall fellows ran off in the direc- 
tion of the huts. I was a little puzzled by the 
movement, but not long left in doubt as to its ob- 
ject, for, in a few moments, a figure approached, 
creating hardly less sensation among the people 
than he would have done among the u boys" in the 
Bowery. I at once recognised him as the " Cap- 
t'n," whose title had been so vigorously invoked. 
He was, to start with, far from being a fine-looking 
darkey : but all natural deficiencies were more than 
made up by his dress. He had on a most venerable 
cocked hat, in which was stuck a long, drooping 
red plume, that had lost half of its feathers, look- 
ing like the plumes of some rake of a rooster, 
returning, crestfallen and bedraggled, from an un- 
successful attempt on some powerful neighbour's 
harem. His coat was that of a post-captain in the 
British navy, and his pantaloons were of blue cloth, 
with a rusty gold stripe running down each side. 
They were, furthermore, much too short at both 



CAPTAIK DRUMMER. 69 

ends, leaving an unseemly projection of ankle, as 
well as a broad stripe of dark skin between the 
waistband and the coat. And when I say that 
the captain wore no shirt, was rather fat, and his 
pantaloons deficient in buttons wherewith to keep 
it appropriately closed in front, the active fancy of 
the reader may be able to complete the picture. 
He bore, moreover, a huge cavalry sword, which 
looked all the more formidable from being bent in 
several places and very rusty. He came forward 
with deliberation and gravity, and I advanced to 
meet him, " king paper" in hand. 

When I had got near him, he adjusted himself in 
position, and compressed his lips, with an affecta- 
tion of severe dignity. Hardly able to restrain 
laughing outright, I took off my hat, and saluted 
him with a profound bow, and " Good morning, 
Captain!" He pulled off his hat in return, and 
undertook a bow, but the strain was too great on 
the sole remaining button of his waistband ; it gave 
way, and, to borrow a modest nautical phrase, the 
nether garment "came down on the run!" The 
captain, however, no way disconcerted, gathered it 
up with both hands, and held it in place, while I 
read the " paper that talked." 

The upshot of the ceremony was, that I was 
welcomed to Wasswatla, and taken to a large 
vacant hut, which was called the "king's house," 
and dedicated to the Genius of Hospitality. That 
is to say, the stranger or trader may take up his 
abode there, provided he can dislodge the pigs and 
chickens, who have an obstinate notion of their 
own on the subject of the proprietorship, and can 
never be induced to surrender their prescriptive 
rights. The "king's* house" was a simple shed, 



70 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

the ground within trodden into mire by the pigs., 
and the thatched roof above half blown away by 
the wind. But, even thus uninviting, it was better 
than any of. the other and drier huts, for the fleas, 
at least, had been suffocated in the mud. Before 
night Antonio had covered the floor a foot deep 
with cahoon leaves, and, with the aid of the Poyer 
boy and one or two natives, seduced thereunto by 
what they universally call " grog," had restored 
the roof, and built up a barricade of poles against 
the pigs. These were not numerous, but hungry 
and vicious ; and, finding the barricade too strong 
to be rooted down, they tried the dodge of the 
Jews at Jericho, and of Captain Crockett with the 
bear, and undertook to squeal it down ! They 
neither ate nor slept, those pigs, I verily believe, 
during the period of my stay ; but kept up an in- 
cessant squeal, occasionally relieving their tempers 
by a spiteful drive at the poles. Between them and 
pestilent insects of various kinds, my slumbers 
were none of the sweetest, and I registered a 
solemn vow that this should be my last trial of 
Mosquito hospitality. 

In the afternoon I had a visit from the captain, 
who told me that his name was "Lord Kelson 
Drummer," and that his father had been " Gover- 
nor" in the section around Pearl-Cay Lagoon. He 
had laid aside his official suit, and with simple 
breeches of white cotton cloth, and a straw hat, 
afforded a favourable contrast to his appearance in 
the morning. Pie spoke English — quite as well as 
the negroes of Jamaica, and generally made him- 
self understood. From him I learned that the 
house, which I had seen in the clearings, had been 
built, many years before, by a French Creole from 



A DESERTED PLANTATION. 71 

one of the islands of the Antilles, who at one time 
had there a large plantation of coffee, cotton, and 
sugar-cane, from the last of which he distilled 
much rum. Drummer was animated on the sub- 
ject of the rum, of which there had been, as he 
said, "much plenty!" But the Frenchman had 
died, and although his family kept up the esta- 
blishment for a little while, they were obliged to 
abandon it in the end. The negroes who had been 
brought out, soon caught the infection of the coast, 
and, slavery having been prohibited (by the British 
Superintendent at Belize), became idle, drunken, 
and worthless. Some of them still lingered around 
"Wasswatla, gathering, for sale to the occasional 
trader, a few pounds of coffee from the trees on the 
plantation, which, in spite of years of utter neglect, 
still bore fruit. The abandoned cane-fields fur- 
nished a supply of canes, at which all the inhabi- 
tants of Wasswatla, old and young, were con- 
stantly gnawing. In fact, this appeared to be 
their principal occupation. I subsequently visited 
the abandoned estate. It was overgrown with 
vines and bushes, among which the orange, lime, 
and coffee-trees struggled for existence. The house 
was tumbling into ruin, and the boilers in which 
the sugar had been made, were full of stagnating 
water. I returned to the squalid village, having 
learned another philosophy in the science of phi- 
lanthropy, and with a diminishing inclination to 
tolerate the common cant about " universal bro- 
therhood !" 

The soil on the Wawashaan is rich and produc- 
tive. It seems well adapted to cotton and sugar. 
The climate is hot and humid, and I saw many of 
the natives much reduced, and suffering greatly 



72 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

from fevers, which, if not violent, appear, never- 
theless, to be persistent, and exceedingly debilita- 
ting. The natural products are numerous and 
valuable. I observed many indian-rubber trees, 
and, for the first time, the vanilla. It is produced 
on a vine, which climbs to the tops of the loftiest 
trees. Its leaves somewhat resemble those of the 
grape • the flowers are red and yellow, and when 
they fall off are succeeded by the pods, which grow 
in clusters, like our ordinary beans. Green at 
first, they change to yellow, and finally to a dark 
brown. To be preserved, they are gathered when 
yellow, and put in heaps, for a few days, to fer- 
ment. They are afterwards placed in the sun to 
dry, flattened by the hand, and carefully rubbed 
with cocoa-nut oil, and then packed in dry plan- 
tain-leaves, so as to confine their powerful aroma- 
tic odour. The vanilla might be made a consider- 
able article of trade on the coast ; but, at present, 
only a few dozen packages are exported. 

Lord Nelson, as I invariably called the captain, 
domesticated himself with me from the first day, 
and ate and drank with me — " especially the lat- 
ter.'' And I soon found out that there was a 
direct and intimate relation between his degree of 
thirst and his protestations of attachment. He 
even hinted his intention to get up a mushla feast 
for me, but I would not agree to stay for a suffi- 
cient length of time. 

Finally, however, a grand fishing expedition to 
the lagoon was determined on, and I was surprised 
to see with how much alacrity the proposition was 
taken up. The day previous to starting was de- 
voted to sharpening spears, cleaning the boats, and 
making paddles, in all of which operations the 



A MOSQUITO DANCE. 73 

women worked indiscriminately with the men. 
Plantains were gathered, and, as it seemed to me, 
no end of sugar-canes from the de&erted plantation. 
In the evening, which happened to prove clear, the 
big drum was got out, fires lighted, and there was 
a dance, as Lord Nelson said, " Mosquito fashion." 
My part of the performance consisted in keeping up 
the spirit of the drummers, by pouring spirits 
down, which service was responded to by a vehe- 
mence of pounding that would have done credit to 
a militia training. I was surprised to find how 
much skill the performers had attained; but after- 
wards discovered that the drum is the favourite in- 
strument on the coast, and is called in requisition 
on all occasions of festivity or ceremony. The 
dance was uncouth, without the merit of being 
grotesque ; and long before it was finished, the per- 
formers, of both sexes, had thrown aside their 
tournous, and abandoned every shadow of decency 
in their actions. Lord Nelson began to grow tor- 
pid early in the evening, and, before I left the 
scene, had been carried off dead drunk. Next 
morning he looked rather downcast, and com- 
plained that the rum " had spoiled his head" 

It was quite late when our flotilla got under 
way, with a large dory, carrying the big drum, 
leading the van. There were some twenty-odd 
boats, containing nearly the entire population of 
the village. This number was increased from the 
huts lower down, the occupants of which hailed us 
with loud shouts, and hastened after us with their 
canoes. We went down the river with the current 
very rapidly, the men paddling in the maddest 
way, and shouting to each other at the top of their 
voices. Occasionally the boats got foul, when the 



74 THE 'MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

rivals used the flat of their paddles over each 
other's heads without scruple. I was considerably 
in the rear, and, from the sound of the blows, im- 
agined that every skull had been crushed; but next 
moment their owners were paddling and shouting 
as if nothing had happened. From that day I had 
a morbid curiosity to get a Mosquito skull ! 

We all encamped at night on the sandy beach 
of a large island, in the centre of the lagoon. The 
reader may be sure that I made my own camp at 
a respectable distance from the rest of the party, 
where I had a quiet supper, patronised, as usual, 
by Captain Drummer. As soon as it became dark, 
the preparations for fishing commenced. The 
women were left on the beach, and three men ap- 
portioned to each boat. One was detailed to pad- 
dle, another to hold the torch, and the third, and 
most skilful, acted as striker or spearsman. The 
torches were made of splinters of the fat yellow 
pine, which abounds in the interior. The spears, 
I observed, were of two kinds ; one firmly fixed by 
a shank at the end of a long light pole, called sin- 
nock, which is not allowed to escape the hand of 
the striker. The other, called waisko-dusa, is 
much shorter. The staff is hollow, and the iron 
spear-head, or harpoon, is fastened to a line which 
passes through rings by the side of the shaft, and 
is wound to a piece of light-wood, designed to act 
as a float. When thrown, the head remains in the 
fish, while the line unwinds, and the float rises to 
the surface, to be seized again by the fisherman, 
who then hauls in his fish at his leisure. When the 
fish is large and active, the chase after the float 
becomes animated, and takes the character of what 
fishermen call " sport." 



FIEE-LIGHT FISHING. 75 

As I have said, no sooner was it dark than the 
boats pushed off, in different directions, on the 
lagoon. My Poyer boy had borrowed a ivaisko- 
dusa, and with him to strike, and Antonio to 
paddle, I took a torch, and also glided out on the 
water. My torch was tied to a pole, which I held 
over the bow. Antonio paddled slowly, while the 
Poyer boy, entirely naked (for the strikers often go 
overboard after their own spears), stood in the bow, 
with his spear poised in his right hand, eagerly in- 
clining forward, and motionless as a statue. He 
was perfect in form, and his bronze limbs, just 
tense enough to display without distorting the 
muscles, were brought in clear outline against the 
darkness by the light of the torch — revealing a 
figure and pose that would shame the highest 
achievements of the sculptor. It was so admirable 
that I quite forgot the fisher in the artist, when, 
rapid as light, the arm of the Poyer boy fell, and 
the spear entered the water eight or nine feet ahead 
of the boat. The motion was so sudden, that 
it nearly startled me overboard. At first I thought 
he had missed his mark, but I soon saw the white 
float, now dipping under the water, now jerked 
this way, now that, evincing clearly that the spears- 
man had been true in his aim. A few strokes 
of Antonio's paddle brought the float within reach 
of the striker, who began, in sporting phrase, to 
"land" the fish. It made a desperate struggle, 
and for a while it was what is called a " tight pull" 
between the boy and the fish. Nevertheless, he 
was finally got in, and proved to be what is called 
a June, or Jeivftsh fCoracmusJ, by the English, 
and Palpa by the natives. In point of delicacy 
and richness of flavour, this fish is unequalled 



76 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

by any other found in these seas. The one which 
we obtained weighed not far from eighty pounds. 
Some of them have been known to weigh two or 
three hundred pounds. Our prize made a great 
disturbance in our little canoe, to which Antonio 
put a stop by disembowelling him on the spot, after 
which we resumed our sport. We were successful 
in obtaining a number of rock-fish, and several 
sikoko, or sheep's heads. Ambitious to try my 
skill, I took the Poyer boy's place for a while. I 
was astonished to find how perfectly clear the water 
proved to be, under the light of the torch. The 
bottom, which, in the broad daylight, had been 
utterly invisible, now revealed all of its mysteries, 
its shells, and plants, and stones, with wonderful 
distinctness. I observed also that the fish seemed 
to be attracted by the light, and, instead of darting 
away, rose towards the surface and approached the 
boat. I allowed several opportunities of throwing 
the spear to slip. Finally, a fine sheep's-head rose 
just in front of me ; I aimed my spear, and threw 
it with such an excess of force as literally to drive 
the dory from beneath my feet, precipitating myself 
in the water, and knocking down and extinguish- 
ing the torch in my ungraceful tumble. The spear 
was recovered, and I felt rather disappointed to find 
that it was innocent of a fish. Antonio suggested 
that he had broken loose, which was kind of him, 
but it wouldn't do. As we were without light, and, 
moreover, had as many fish as we could possibly 
dispose of, we paddled ashore. 

Up to this time I had been so much absorbed 
with our own sport that I had not noticed the 
other fishers. It was a strange scene. Each torch 
glowed at the apex of a trembling pyramid of red 



NIGHT PISHING. 77 

light, which, as the boats could not be seen, seemed 
to be inspired with life. Some moved on stately 
and slow, while others, where the boats were 
rapidly whirled in pursuit of the stricken fish, 
seemed to be chasing each other in fiery glee. 
Every successful throw was hailed with vehement 
shouts, heightened by loud blows made by striking 
the flat of the paddle on the surface of the water. 
All along the shore, the women had lighted fires 
whereat to dry the fish, which, in this climate, can- 
not be kept long without spoiling. The light from 
these fires caught on the heavy foliage of the 
shore, and, revealing the groups of half-naked 
women and children, helped to make up a scene 
which it is difficult to paint in words, but which 
can never be forgotten by one who has wit- 
nessed it. 

It was past midnight before the boats all re- 
turned to the shore; and then commenced the 
drying of the fish. Over all the fires, just out of 
reach of the flames, were raised frameworks of 
canes, like gridirons, on which the fish, thinly 
sliced lengthwise, and rubbed with salt, were laid. 
They were repeatedly turned, so that, with the 
salt, smoke, and heat, they were so far cured in the 
morning as to require no further attention than a 
day or two of exposure to the sun. Our Jewfish 
was thus prepared, and afterwards stood us in good 
stead, much resembling smoked salmon, but less 
salt. While Antonio superintended this opera- 
tion, I cooked the head and shoulders of the 
big fish in the sand, after the manner I have 
already described, and achieved a signal success, 
inasmuch as the dish was well seasoned with 
" hunger sauce." 



THE MOSQUITO SHOP.E. 



CHAPTER V. 




FF the mouth of Pearl-Cay La- 
goon are numerous cays, which, 
in fact, give their name to the 
lagoon. They are celebrated for 
the number and variety of tur- 
tles found on and around them. I was so much 
delighted with our torch-light fishing, that I be- 
came eager to witness the sport of turtle-hunting, 
which is regarded by the Mosquitoes as their noblest 
art, and in which they have acquired proverbial 
expertness. Drummer required only a little per- 
suasion and a taste of rum, to undertake an ex- 
pedition to the cays. As this involved going out 
in the open sea, he selected four of the largest 
pitparrs, to each of which he assigned the requisite 
number of able-bodied and expert men. The 
women and remaining men were left to continue 
their fishing in the lagoon. My canoe was much 



A START FOE TURTLE. 79 

too small to venture off, and accordingly was left 
in charge of the Poyer boy, who, armed with my 
double-barrelled-gun, felt himself a host. With 
Antonio, I was given a place in the largest pitpan, 
commanded by Harris, Captain Drummer's " quar- 
termaster/' who was much the finest specimen of 
physical beauty that I had seen among the Sambos. 

I was quite concerned on finding how little pro- 
visions were taken in the boats, since bad weather 
often keeps the fishermen out for two or three 
weeks. But Drummer insisted that we should 
find plenty to eat, and we embarked. T\ r e caught 
the land-breeze as soon as we got from under the 
lee of the shore, and drove rapidly on our course. 
Although the sea was comparatively smooth, yet 
the boats all carried such an amount of sail as to 
keep me in a state of constant nervousness. One 
would scarcely believe that the Mosquito men 
venture out in their pitpans, in the roughest 
weather, with impunity, riding the waves like sea- 
gulls. If upset, they right their boats in a moment, 
and with their broad paddle-blades clear them of 
water in an incredibly short space of time. 

We went, literally, with the wind, and in four 
hours after leaving the shore were among the 
€ays. These are very numerous, surrounded by 
reefs, through which wind intricate channels, all 
well known to the fishers. Some of the cays are 
mere heaps of sand, and half-disintegrated coral- 
rock, others are larger, and a few have bushes, and 
an occasional palm-tree upon them, much re- 
sembling " El Roncador." It was on one of the 
latter, where there were the ruins of a rude hut, 
and a place scooped in the sand, containing brackish 
water, that we landed and made our encampment. 



80 THE MOSqUITO SHOEE. 

No sooner was this done than Harris started out 
with his boat after turtle, leaving the rest to repair 
the hut and arrange matters for the night. Of 
course I accompanied Harris. 

The apparatus for striking the turtle is exceed- 
ingly simple, corresponding exactly with the waisko- 
dusa, which I have described, except that, instead 
of being barbed, the point is an ordinary triangular 
file, ground exceedingly sharp. This, it has been 
found, is the only thing which will pierce the thick 
armour of the turtle : and, moreover, it makes so 
small a hole, that it seldom kills the green turtle, 
and very slightly injures the scales of the hawkbill 
variety, which furnishes the shell of commerce. 

Harris stood in the bow of the pitpan, keeping a 
sharp look-out, holding his spear in his right 
hand, with his left hand behind him, where it an- 
swered the purpose of a telegraph to the two men 
who paddled. They kept their eyes fixed on the 
signal, and regulated their strokes and the course 
and speed of the boat accordingly. Not a word 
was said, as it is supposed that the turtle is sharp 
of hearing. In this manner we paddled among 
the cays for half an hour, when, on a slight motion 
of Harris's hand, the men altered their course a lit- 
tle, and worked their paddles so slowly and quietly 
as scarcely to cause a ripple. I peered ahead, but 
saw only what I supposed was a rock, projecting 
above the water. It was, nevertheless, a turtle, 
floating lazily on the surface, as turtles are wont to 
do. Notwithstanding the caution of our approach, 
he either heard us or caught sight of the boat, and 
sank while we were yet fifty yards distant. There 
was a quick motion of Harris's manual telegraph, 
and the men began to paddle with the utmost ra- 



STEIKING TURTLE. 



81 



pidity, striking their paddles deep in the water. In 
an instant the boat had darted over the spot where 
the turtle had disappeared, and I caught a hurried 
glimpse of him, making his way with a speed which 
quite upset my notions of the ability of turtles in 
that line, predicated upon their unwieldiness on 
land. He literally seemed to slide through the 
water. 

And now commenced a novel and exciting chase. 
Harris had his eyes on the turtle, and the men 
theirs on Harris's telegraphic hand. Now we darted 
this way, then that ; slow one moment, rapid the 
next, and anon stock still. The water was not so 
deep as to permit our scaly friend to get entirely 
out of reach of Harris's practised eye, although to 
me the bottom appeared to be a hopeless maze. As 




STRIKING TURTLE. 



the turtle must rise to the surface sooner or later 
to breathe, the object of the pursuer is to keep near 
enough to transfix him when he appears. Finally, 



82 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

after half an hour of dodging about, the boat was 
stopped with a jerk, and down darted the spear. 
As the whole of the shaft did not go under, I saw 
it had not failed of its object. A moment more, and 
Harris had hold of the line. After a few struggles 
and spasmodic attempts to get away, his spirit gave 
in, and the tired turtle tamely allowed himself to 
be conducted to the shore. A few sharp strokes 
disengaged the file, and he was turned over on his 
back on the sand, the very picture of utter helpless- 
ness, to await our return. I have a fancy that the 
expression of a turtle's head and half- closed eyes, 
under such circumstances, is the superlative of re- 
signation ; to which a few deprecatory movements 
of his flippers came in as an accessory. 

This " specimen/' as the naturalists would say, 
proved to be of the smaller, or hawk-bill variety, 
the flesh of which is inferior to that of the green 
turtle, although hawk-bills are most valuable on 
account of their shells. So we paddled off again, 
keeping close to the cays and reefs, where the water 
is shallow. It was nearly dark before Harris got 
a chance at another turtle, which he struck on the 
bottom, at least eight feet below the surface. 
This was of the green variety 3 he was lifted in the 
boat, and his head unceremoniously chopped off, 
lest he should take a spiteful nip at the paddlers. 

We wound our way back to the rendezvous, pick- 
ing up our hawk-bill, who was that night unmer- 
cifully put through the cruel process, which I have 
already had occasion to describe, for separating the 
scales from the shell, after which he was permitted 
to take himself off. I may here mention, that be- 
sides the two varieties of turtle which I have 
named, there is another and larger kind, called the 



"jumping turtle" 83 

loggerhead turtle (Testudo Caretta), which re- 
sembles the green turtle, but is distinguished by 
the superior size of the head, greater breadth of 
shell, and by its deeper and more variegated co- 
lours. It grows to be of great size, sometimes 
reaching one thousand or twelve hundred pounds ; 
but its flesh is rank and coarse, and the laminae of 
its shell too thin for use. It, nevertheless, sup- 
plies a good oil, proper for a variety of purposes. 

That evening, we had turtle steaks, and turtle 
eggs, roasted turtle flippers, and callipash and cal- 
lipee (the two latter in the form of soup), — in fact, 
turtle in every form known to the Mosquito men, 
who well deserve the name of turtle-men. The 
turtle conceals its eggs in the sand, but the natives 
are ready to detect indications of a deposit, which 
they verify by thrusting in the sand the iron ram- 
rod of a musket, an operation which they call 
" feeling for eggs." 

About midnight it came on to rain heavily, and 
continued all the next day, so that nothing could be 
done. The time was " put in" talking turtle, and 
Harris got so warmed up as to promise to show me 
what the Mosquito men regard as the neplus ultra 
of skill in turtle craft, namely " jumping turtle." 
He did not explain to me what this meant, but 
gave me a significant wag of the head, which is a 
Mosquito synonym for nous verrons. 

The third day proved propitious, and Harris was 
successful in obtaining several fine turtles. About 
noon he laid aside his spear, and took his position, 
entirely naked, keeping up, nevertheless, his usual 
look-out. We were not long in getting on the 
track of a turtle. After a world of manoeuvring, 
apparently with the object of driving him into shal- 



84 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

low water, Harris made a sudden dive overboard. 
The water boiled and bubbled for a few moments, 
when he reappeared, holding a fine hawk-bill in 
his outstretched hands. And that feat proved to 
be what is called "jumping a turtle." It often 
happens that bungling fishermen get badly bitten 
in these attempts, which are not without their 
dangers from the sharp coral rocks and spiny sea- 
eggs. 

During the afternoon of the fourth day, we re- 
turned to the lagoon, taking with us eight green 
turtles, and about ninety pounds of fine shell. We 
found that most of the party which we had left 
had gone back to the village, whither Drummer and 
his " quartermaster" were urgent I should return 
with them. But Wasswatla had no further attrac- 
tions for me, and I was firm in my purpose of pro- 
ceeding straightway up the coast. 

With many last turns at the grog, I parted — not 
without regret — with Drummer and Harris, giving 
them each a gaudy silk handkerchief, in acknow- 
ledgment of two fine turtles which they insisted 
on my accepting. Harris also gave me his turtle- 
* spear, and was much exalted when I told him that 
I should have it engraved with his name, and hung 
up in my watla (house) at home. 

Pearl-Cay Lagoon is upwards of forty miles long, 
by, perhaps, ten miles wide at its broadest parte 
There are three or four settlements upon it, the 
principal of which are called Kirka, and English 
Bank. I did not visit any of these, but took my 
course direct for the upper end of the lagoon, where, 
as the chain of salt lakes is here uninterrupted for 
a considerable distance, there is another haulover 
from the lagoon to the sea. I saw several collec- 



. TROPICAL TORMENTS. 85 

tions of huts on the western shore, and on a small 
island, where we stopped during the mid-day heats, 
I gathered a few stalks of the jiquilite (Indigofera 
disperma), or indigenous indigo-plant, which may 
be ranked as one of the prospective sources of 
wealth on the coast. 

We arrived at the haulover in the midst of a 
drenching thunder-storm, which lasted into the 
night. It was impossible to light a fire, and so we 
drew up the canoe on the beach, and, piling our 
traps in the centre, I perched myself on the top, 
where, with the sail thrown over my head, I ehacted 
the part of a tent-pole for the live-long night ! 
My Indian companions stripped themselves naked, 
rubbed their bodies with palm oil, and took the 
pelting with all the nonchalance of ducks. For 
want of anything better to do, I ate plantains and 
dried fish, and, after the rain subsided, watched the 
brilliant fire- flies, of which hundreds moved about 
lazily under the lee of the bushes. The atmosphere, 
after the storm had subsided, was murky and 
sultry, making respiration difficult, and inducing a 
sense of extreme lassitude and fatigue. Every- 
thing was damp and sticky, and so saturated with 
water that it was impossible for me to lie down. I 
applied to my Jamaica rum for comfort, but, in 
spite of it, relapsed into a fit of glums. To add to 
my discomfort, innumerable sand-flies came out, 
and, soon after, a cloud of mosquitoes, while a 
forest-full of some kind of tree-toad struck up a 
doleful piping, which proved too much for even my 
tried equanimity. I got up, and strode back and 
forth on the narrow sand-beach, in a vehement 
and intemperate manner, wishing myself in New 
York, any where ; even in Jamaica ! The remem- 



86 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

brance of my first night on the shores of the lagoon 
only served to make me feel the more wretched, 
and I longed to have ee some gentleman do me the 
favour to thread on the tail of me coat I" 

Towards daylight, however, my companions had 
contrived to make up a sickly fire, in the smoke of 
which I sought refuge from the mosquitoes and 
sand-flies, and became soothed and sooty at the 
same time. Day came at last, but the sun was ob- 
scured, and things wore but slight improvement on 
the night. I found that we were on a narrow strip 
of sand, scarcely two hundred yards wide, covered 
with scrubby bushes, interspersed with a few 
twisted trees, looking like weather-beaten skele- 
tons, beyond which was the sea, dark and threaten- 
ing, under a gray, filmy sky. Antonio predicted a 
storm, what he called a temporal, during which it 
often rains steadily for a week. Under the cir- 
cumstances, it became a pregnant question what to 
do : whether to return down the lagoon to some 
more eligible spot for an encampment, or to push 
out boldly on the ocean, and make an effort to 
gain the mouth of a large river, some miles up the 
coast, called Rio Grande or Great River. 

I resolved upon the latter course, and we drag- 
ged the canoe across the haulover. Although the 
surf was not high, we had great difficulty in launch- 
ing our boat, which was effected by my com- 
panions, who, stationed one on each side, seized a 
favourable moment, as the waves fell, to drag it be- 
yond the line of breakers. While one kept it sta- 
tionary with his paddle, the other, watching his 
opportunity, carried off the articles one by one, 
and finally, stripping myself, I mounted on Anto- 
nio's shoulders, and was deposited like a sack in 



BEAVIXG THE BAR. 87 

the boat. We paddled out until we got a good 
offing, then put up our sail, and laid our course 
north north-west. The coast was dim and indis- 
tinct, but I had great faith in the Poyer boy, 
whose judgment had thus far never failed. About 
four o'clock in the afternoon, we came in sight of 
a knoll or high bank, which, covered with large 
trees, rises on the north side of the mouth of Great 
River, constituting an excellent landmark. I was 
in no wise sorry to find ourselves nearing it rapidly, 
for the wind began to freshen, and I feared lest it 
might raise such a surf on the bar of the river as 
to prevent us from entering. In fact, the waves 
had begun to break at the shallower places on the 
bar, while elsewhere the north-east wind drove over 
the water in heavy swells. The sail was hastily 
gathered in, and my Indians, seizing their paddles, 
watched the seventh, or crowning wave, and, by 
vigorous exertion, cheering each other with shouts, 
kept the canoe at its crest, and thus we were swept 
majestically over the bar into the comparatively 
quiet water beyond it. Half an hour afterwards^ 
the great waves broke on the very spot where we 
had crossed, in clouds of spray, and with the noise 
of thunder ! 

The mouth of Great River is broad, but entirely 
exposed to the north-east ; and, although it is a 
large stream, the water on its bar is not more than 
five or six feet deep, shutting out all large vessels, 
which otherwise might go up a long way into the 
country. There are several islands near the mouth. 
On the innermost one, which towards the sea is 
bluff and high, we made our encampment. It ap- 
peared to me as favourable a spot as we could 
find, whereon to await the temporal which Antonio 



88 THE MOSQUITO SKOEE. 

had predicted, and the approach, of which became 
apparent to even the most unpractised observer. 
Fortunately, with Harris's turtles, we felt easy on 
the score of food. So we dragged the canoe high 
up on the bank, and while I kindled a fire, my 
companions busied themselves in constructing a 
shelter over the boat. Stout forked stakes were 
planted at each end of the canoe, to support a 
ridge-pole, with other shorter ones supporting the 
outer poles. To these, canes were lashed trans- ' 
versely, and over all was woven a thatch of cahoon, 
or palmetto-leaves. Outside, and on a line with 
the eaves, a little trench was dug, to carry off the 
water, and preserve the interior from being flooded 
by what might run down the slope of the ground. 
So rapidly was all this done, that before it was 
quite dark the hut was so far advanced as to enable 
us to defy the rain, which soon began to fall in 
torrents. The strong sea wind drove off the mos- 
quitoes to the bush on the main-land, so that I 
slept comfortably and well, in spite of the thunder 
of the sea and the roaring of the wind. 

For eight days it rained almost uninterruptedly. 
Sometimes, between nine and eleven o'clock, and 
for perhaps an hour near sunset, there would be a 
pause, and a lull in the wind, and a general light- 
ing up of the leaden sky, as if the sun were about 
to break through. But the clouds would gather 
again darker than ever, and the rain set in with a 
steady pouring unknown in northern latitudes. For 
eight mortal days we had no ray of sun, or moon, 
or star !, Every iron thing became thickly coated 
with rust; our plantains began to spot, and our 
dried fish to grow soft and mouldy, requiring to be 
hung over the small fire which we contrived to 



THE PIG AND THE PAKKOT. 89 

keep alive, in one corner of our extemporaneous 
hut. 

After the third day, the water in the river began 
to rise, and during the night rose more than eight 
feet. On the fifth day the current was full of large 
trees, their leaves still green, which seemed to be 
bound together with vines. In the afternoon down 
came the entire thatched roof of a native hut, 
which lodged against our island, bringing us a 
most acceptable freight, in the shape of a plump 
two -months' old pig. His fellow-voyager — strange 
companionship ! — was a tame parrot, with clipped 
wings, who looked melancholy enough when res- 
cued, but who, after getting dry in our hut, and 
soothing his appetite on my plantains, first became 
mirthful, then boisterous, and finally mischievous. 
He was immediately insta]led as one of the party, 
and made more noise in the world than all the 
rest. To me he proved an unfailing source of 
amusement. He was respectful towards Antonio, 
but vicious towards the Poyer boy, and never happy 
except when cautiously stealing to get a bite at his 
toes. When successful in this he became wild 
with delight, and as noisy and vehement as a lucky 
Frenchman. It was one of his prime delights to 
gnaw off the corks of my bottles ; and he was pos- 
sessed of a most insane desire to get inside of my 
demijohn, mistaking it, perhaps, for a wicker cage, 
from which he imagined himself wrongfully ex- 
cluded. Antonio called him " El Moro," the Moor, 
for what reason I did not understand, and the 
name suiting me as well as any other, I adopted it. 

Our young porker escaped drowning only to fall 
into the hands of the Philistines; we had nothing 
to feed him ; he might get away ; he was, more- 



90 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

over, invitingly fat; so we incontinently cut his 
throat, and ate him up ! 

During our imprisonment, my companions were 
not idle. Upon the island were many mohoe-trees, 
the bark of which is tough, and of a fine, soft, 
white fibre. Of this they collected considerable 
quantities, which the Poyer boy braided into a sort 
of cap, designed as the foundation of the elegant 
feather head-dress which he afterwards gave me ; 
while Antonio, more utilitarian, wove a small net, 
not unlike that which we use to catch crabs. He 
at once put it into requisition to catch craw-fish, 
which abounded among the rocks to the seaward 
of the island. But before entering udou the sub- 
ject of craw-fish, I may say that the mohoe bark, 
from its fine quality, and the abundance in which 
it may be procured, might be made exceedingly 
useful for the manufacture of paper — an article 
now becoming scarce and dear. 

The cray or craiv-fish resemble the lobster, but 
are smaller in size, and want the two great claws. 
Their flesh has more flavour than that of either the 
crab or lobster, and we found them an acceptable 
addition to our commissariat. There were many 
wood-pigeons and parrots on the island, but my 
gun had got in such a state, from the damp, that 
I did not attempt to use it. 

Our protracted stay made a large draft on our 
yucas and plantains, and it became important to us 
to look out for fruit and vegetables. The current 
in the river was too strong, and too much ob- 
structed with floating timber, to permit us to use 
our boat. The water, even at the broadest part of 
the stream, had risen upwards of fifteen feet, equi- 
valent to a rise of twenty or twenty-five feet in the 



A XAKEOW ESCAPE. 91 

interior ! The banks were overflowed ; the low 
islands outside of us completely submerged and 
our own space much circumscribed. A few plan- 
tain-trees, which we had observed on the first 
evening, had been broken down or swept away, and 
we were fain to put ourselves on a short allowance 
of vegetables. One morning, during a pause in 
the rain, I ventured out ; and, after a little search, 
found a tree, resembling a pear-tree, and bearing 
a large quantity of a small fruit, of the size and 
shape of a crab-apple, and exactly like it in smelL 
I cried out delightedly to Antonio, holding up a 
handful of the supposed apples. To my surprise, 
he shouted, " Throw them down ! throw them 
down ! ;; explaining that they were the fruit of the 
mangeneel or manzanilla, and rank poison. He 
hurried me away from the tree, assuring me that 
even the dew or rain-drops which fell from its 
leaves were poisonous, and that its influence, like 
that of the fabled upas, is so powerful as to swell 
the faces and limbs of those who may be ignorant 
or indiscreet enough to sleep beneath its shade ! I 
found out subsequently, that it is with the acrid 
milky juice of this tree that the Indians poison 
their arrows. I ever afterwards gave it a wide 
berth. In shape and smell it is so much like the 
crab-apple that I can readily understand how it 
might prove dangerous to strangers. Under the 
tropics, it is safe to let wild fruits alone. Antonio, 
more successful than myself, found a large quan- 
tity of guavas, which the natives eat with great 
relish, but which to me have a disagreeable aroma- 
tic, or rather musky taste. So I stuck to plan- 
tains, and left my companions and "El moro/ ; to 
enjoy a monopoly of guavas. 



92 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

Finally, the windows of heaven were closed, the 
rain ceased, and the sun came out with a bright, 
well- washed face. It was none too soon, for every 
article which I possessed, clothing, books, food, all 
had begun to spot and mould from the damp. I 
had myself a sympathetic feeling, and dreamed at 
night that I was covered with a green mildew; 
dreams so vivid that I once got up and went out 
naked in the rain to wash it off ! 

After the leaves had ceased to drip, we stretched 
lines between the trees, and hung out our scanty 
wardrobe to dry. I rubbed a'nd brushed at my 
court suit of black, but in vain. What with salt- 
water at " El Roncador," and mould here, it had 
acquired a permanent rusty and leprous look, which 
half inclined me to follow the Poyer boy's sugges- 
tion, and soak it in palm oil ! ( Few and simple as 
were our equipments, it took full two days to redeem 
them from the effects of the damp. My gun more 
resembled some of those quaint old firelocks taken 
from wrecks and exhibited in museums, than any- 
thing useful to the present generation. In view of 
all things, I was fain to ejaculate, Save me from 
another " temporal" on the Mosquito Shore ! 



OFF AGAIN. 



93 



CHAPTER VI. 




T was three days after the rain had 
ceased, before we could embark on 
the river, and even then its current 
was angry and turbid, and filled 
with floating trees. We hugged the banks in our 
ascent, darting from one side of the stream to the 
other to avail ourselves of the back-sets, or eddies, 
sometimes losing, by an unsuccessful attempt, all we 
had gained by half an hour of hard paddling. The 
banks were much torn by the water ; in some places 
they had fallen in, carrying many trees into the 
stream, where they remained anchored to the shore 
by the numerous tough vines that twined around 
them. Elsewhere the trees, half undermined, leaned 
heavily over the current, in which the long vines 
hung trailing in mournful masses, like the drooping 
leaves of the funeral willow. The long grass on the 



94 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

low islands had been beaten down, and was covered 
with a slimy deposit, over which stalked hungry- 
water-birds, the snow-white ibis, and long- shanked 
crane, in search of worms and insects, and en- 
tangled fish. 

We were occupied the whole day in reaching 
the first settlement on this river — a picturesque col- 
lection of low huts, in a forest of palm, papaya, and 
plantain-trees. Near it were some considerable 
patches of maize, and long reaches of yucas, squash, 
and melon- vines. There were, in short, more evi- 
dences of industry and thrift than I had yet seen 
on the entire coast. 

As we approached the bank, in front of the huts, 
I observed that all the inhabitants were pure In- 
dians, whom my Poyer boy hailed in his own tongue. 
I afterwards found out that they were Woolwas, 
and spoke a dialect of the same language with the 
Poyers and Cookras to the northward. As at 
Wasswatla, nearly all the inhabitants crowded 
down to the shore to meet me, affording, with 
their slight and symmetrical bodies, and long, well- 
ordered, glossy black hair, a striking contrast to 
the large-bellied and spotted mongrels on the Wa- 
washaan. I produced my " King-paper/' and ad- 
vanced towards a couple of elderly men bearing 
white wooden wands, which I at once conjectured 
were insignia of authority. But no sooner did 
they get sight of my u King-paper/' than they 
motioned me back with tokens of displeasure, 
exclaiming, " Sax ! sax !" which I had no diffi- 
culty in comprehending meant " take it away ! " 
So I folded it up, put it in my pocket, and ex- 
tended my hand, which was taken by each, and 
shaken in the most formal manner. When the men 



A WOOLWA WELCOME. 95 

with the wands had finished, all the others came 
forward and went through the same ceremony, 
most of them ejaculating, interrogatively, Nakis- 
ma ? which appears to be an exact equivalent of 
the English, " How are you?" 

This done, the men with the wands beckoned to 
me to follow them, which I did, to a large hut, 
neatly wattled at the sides, and closed by a door of 
canes. One of them pushed this open, and I en- 
tered after him, followed only by those who had 
wands, the rest clustering like bees around the 
door, or peering through the openings in the wat- 
tled walls. There were several rough blocks of wood 
in the interior, upon which they seated themselves, 
placing me between them. All this while there 
was an unbroken silence, and I was quite in a fog 
as to whether I was held as a guest or as a prisoner. 
I looked into the faces of my friends in vain ; they 
were as impassable as stones, I, however, felt re- 
assured when I saw Antonio at the door, his face 
wearing rather a pleased than alarmed expression. 

We sat thus a very long time, as it appeared to 
me, when there was a movement outside, the crowd 
separated, and a man entered, bearing a large 
earthen vessel filled with liquid, followed by two 
girls, with baskets piled with cakes of corn meal, 
fragments of some kind of broiled meat, and a 
quantity of a paste of plantains, having the taste of 
figs, and called bisbire. The eldest of the men of 
wands filled a small calabash with the liquid, 
touched it to his lips, and, passed it to me. I did 
the same, and handed it to my next neighbour; 
but he motioned it back, exclaiming, u Dis ! dis f J 
drink, drink ! I found it to be a species of palm- 
wine, with which I afterwards became better ac- 



96 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

quaixited. It proved pleasant enough to the taste, 
and I drained the calabash. Another one of the 
old men then took up some of the roast meat, tore 
off and ate a little, and handed the rest to me. 
Not slow in adaptation, I took all hints, and around 
up by making a hearty meal. The remnants were 
then passed out to Antonio, who, however, was 
permitted to wait on himself. 

I made some observations to Antonio in Spanish, 
which I perceived was understood by the principal 
dignitary of the wands, who, after some moments, 
informed me, in good Spanish, that the hut in 
which we were was the cabildo of the village, and 
that it was wholly at my service, so long as I chose 
to stay. He furthermore pointed out to me a rude 
drum hanging in one corner, made by stretching 
the raw skin of some animal over a section of a hol- 
low tree, upon which he instructed me to beat in 
case I wanted anything. This done, he rose, and, 
followed by his companions, ceremoniously retired, 
leaving me in quiet possession of the largest and 
best hut in the village. I felt myself quite an im- 
portant personage, and ordered up my hammock, 
and the various contents of my canoe, with a de- 
gree of satisfaction which I had not experienced 
when waging a war against the pigs, in the " King's 
house" at Wasswatla. 

I subsequently ascertained that all of the ideas 
of government which the Indians on this river pos- 
sess, were derived from the Spaniards, either de- 
scending to them from former Spanish establish- 
ments here, or obtained from contact with the 
Spaniards far up in the interior. The principal 
men were called "alcaldes," and many Spanish 
words were in common use. I discovered no trace 



HABITS OF THE INDIANS. 97 

of negro blood among them, and found that they 
entertained a feeling of dislike, amounting to hos- 
tility, to the Mosquito men. So far as I could 
ascertain, while they denied the authority of the 
Mosquito king, they sent down annually a certain 
quantity of sarsaparilla, maize, and other articles, 
less as tribute than as the traditionary price of 
being let alone by the Sambos. In former times, it 
appeared, the latter lost no opportunity of kidnap- 
ping their children and women, and selling them to 
the Jamaica traders as slaves. Indeed, they some- 
times undertook armed forays in the Indian terri- 
tory for the purpose of taking prisoners, to be sold 
to men who made this traffic a regular business. 
This practice continued down to the abolition of 
slavery in Jamaica — a measure of which the Mos- 
quito men greatly complain, notwithstanding that 
they were not themselves exempt from being occa- 
sionally kidnapped. 

The difficulty of entering the Eio Grande, and 
the absence of any considerable traffic with the 
natives on its banks, are among the causes which 
have contributed to keep them free from the de- 
grading influences that prevail on the Mosquito 
Shore. They rely chiefly upon agriculture for their 
support, and fish and hunt but little. They have 
abundance of maize, yucas, cassava, squashes, plan- 
tains, papayas, cocoa-nuts, and other fruits and 
vegetables, including a few limes and oranges, as 
also pigs and fowls, and higher up the river, in the 
savannah country, a few horned cattle. I observed, 
among the domestic fowls, the true Muscovy duck, 
and the idigenous hen or chachalaca. 

The people themselves, though not tall, are 
well-made, and have a remarkably soft and in- 

H 



98 THE MOSQUITO SHOBE. 

offensive expression. The women — and especially 
the girls — were exceedingly shy, and always left 
the huts when I entered. The men universally 
wore the ule tournou, or breech-cloth, but the 
women had in its place a piece of cotton cloth of 
their own manufacture, striped with blue and 
yellow, which hung halfway down the thighs, 
and was supported above the hips by being tucked 
under in some simple, but, to me, inexplicable 
manner.* The young girls were full and sym- 
metrical in form, with fine busts, and large, 
lustrous, black eyes, which, however, always had 
to me a startled, deer-like expression. I saw no 
fire-arms among the men, although they seemed 
to be acquainted with their use. They had, in- 
stead, fine bows and arrows, the latter pointed with 
iron, or a species of tough wood, hardened in the 
fire. The boys universally had blow-pipes or 
reeds, with which they were very expert, killing 
ducks, curlews, and a kind of red partridge, at the 
distance of thirty and forty yards. The silence 
with which the light arrow is sped, enables the 
practised hunter frequently to kill the greater 
part of a flock or covey, before the rest take 
the alarm. 

My life in the cabildo was unmarked by any 
adventure worth notice. I received plantains, 
fowls, whatever I desired, Aladdin-like, by tapping 
the drum. This was always promptly responded 

* The blue dye used in colouring by these Indians is 
made from the jiquilite, which, as I have said, is indigenous 
on the coast. The yellow from the anotta, called achiota, 
the same used to give the colour known as nankeen. The 
tree producing it is abundant throughout all Central 
America. 



STRANGE CUSTOMS. 99 

to by a couple of young Indians, who asked no 
questions and made no replies, but did precisely 
what they were bid. Neither they nor the alcaldes 
would accept anything in return for what they 
furnished me, beyond a few red cotton handker- 
chiefs and some small triangular files, of which old 
Hodgson had wisely instructed me to take in a 
small supply. They all seemed to be unacquainted 
with the use of money, although not without some 
notion of the value of gold and silver. I saw 
several of the women with rude, light bangles of 
gold, which metal, the alcaldes told me, was 
found in the sands of the river, very far up, among 
the mountains. 

Among the customs of these Indians, there 
is one of a very curious nature, with which I was 
made acquainted by accident. Nearly every day 
I strolled off in the woods, with a vague hope of 
some time or other encountering a waree, or wild 
hog (of whose presence in the neighbourhood an 
occasional foray on the maize fields of the Indians 
bore witness) , or perhaps a peccary, or some other 
large animal. As the bush was thick, I seldom 
got far from the beaten paths of the natives, and 
had to content myself with now and then shooting 
a curassow, in lieu of higher game. One day I 
ventured rather further up the river than usual, 
and came suddenly upon an isolated hut. Being 
thirsty, I approached with a view of obtaining 
some water. I had got within perhaps twenty 
paces, when two old women dashed out towards 
me, with vehement cries, motioning me away with 
the wildest gestures, and catching up handfuls of 
leaves and throwing them towards me. I thought 
this rather inhospitable, and at first was disposed 



100 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

not to leave. But, finally, thinking there must be 
some reason for all this, and seeing that the women 
appeared rather distressed than angry, I retraced 
my steps. I afterwards found, upon inquiry, that the 
hut was what is called tabooed by the South Sea 
Islanders, and devoted to the women of the village 
during their confinement. As this period ap- 
proaches, they retire to this secluded place, where 
they remain in the care of two old women for two 
moons, passing through lustrations or purifications 
unknown to the men. While the woman is so con- 
fined to the hut, no one is allowed to approach it, 
and all persons are especially cautious not to pass 
it to the windward, for it is imagined that by so 
doing the wind, which supplies the breath of 
the newly- born child, would be taken away, and it 
would die. This singular notion, I afterwards dis- 
covered, is also entertained by the Mosquito people, 
who no doubt derived it from their Indian pro- 
genitors. 

The course of life of the Indians appeared to be 
exceedingly regular and monotonous. Both men 
and women found abundant occupation during the 
day; they went to bed early, and rose with the 
dawn. Although most of them had hammocks, 
they universally slept on what are called crickeries, 
or platforms of canes, supported on forked posts, 
and covered with variously- coloured mats, woven 
of the bark of palm branches. I observed no 
drunkenness among them, and altogether they 
were quiet, well-ordered, and industrious. In all 
their relations with me they were respectful and 
obliging, but exceedingly reserved. I endeavoured 
to break through their taciturnity, but without 
success. Hence, after a few days had passed, 



THE MANITUS. 101 

and the novelty had worn off, I began to weary of 
inactivity. So I one day proposed to the principal 
alcalde, that he should undertake a hunt for the 
tilbia, mountain cow, or tapir, and the peccary, or 
Mexican hog. He received the proposition de- 
ferentially, but suggested that the manitus, or sea- 
cow, was a more wonderful animal than either of 
those I had named, and that it would not be diffi- 
cult to find one in the river. I took up the hint 
eagerly, as I had already caught one or two 
glimpses of the manitus, which had greatly roused 
my curiosity. The drum was thereupon beaten, 
and the alcaldes convened to consult upon the 
matter. They all came with their wands, and, 
after due deliberation, fixed upon the next night 
for the expedition. Boats were accordingly got 
ready, and the hunters sharpened their lances and 
harpoons. The latter resembled very much the 
ordinary whaling harpoons, but were smaller in 
size. The lances were narrow and sharp, and 
attached to thin staves, of a very tough and heavy 
wood. Notwithstanding that Antonio smiled and 
shook his head, I cleaned my gun elaborately, and 
loaded it heavily with ball. 

Before narrating our adventure in the pursuit 
of the manitus, it will not be amiss to explain that 
this animal is probably the most remarkable one 
found under the tropics, being amphibious, and 
the apparent connecting link between quadrupeds 
and fishes. It may perhaps be better compared to 
the seal, in its general characteristics, than to any 
other sea-animal. It has the two fore feet, or ra- 
ther hands, but the hind feet are wanting, or only 
appear as rudiments beneath the skin. Its head is 
thick and heavy, and has somewhat the appear- 



102 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

ance of that of a hornless cow. It has a broad, 
flat tail, or integument, spreading out horizontally, 
like a fan. The skin is dark, corrugated, and so 
thick and hard that a bullet can scarcely penetrate 
it. A few scattered hairs appear on its body, which 
has a general resemblance to that of the hippopo- 
tamus. There are several varieties of the manitus, 
but it is an animal which appears to be little known 
to naturalists. Its habits are very imperfectly 
understood, and the natives tell many extraordi- 
nary stories about it, alleging, among other things, 
that it can be tamed. It is herbivorous, feeding 
on the long tender shoots of grass growing 
on the banks of the rivers, and will rise nearly 
half of its length out of water to reach its 
food. It is never found on the land, where it 
would be utterly helpless, since it can neither 
walk nor crawl. 

It is commonly from ten to fifteen feet long, 
huge and unwieldy, and weighing from twelve to 
fifteen hundred pounds. It has breasts placed be- 
tween its paws, and suckles its young. The male 
and female are usually found together. It is ex- 
tremely acute in its sense of hearing, and im- 
merges itself in the water at the slightest noise. 
Great tact and caution are therefore necessary to 
kill it, and a manitee hunt puts in requisition all 
the craft and skill of the Indians. 

The favourite hour for feeding, with the mani- 
tus, is the early morning, during the dim, gray 
dawn. In consequence I was called up to join the 
hunters not long after midnight. Two large pit- 
pans, each holding four or five men, were put in 
requisition, and we paddled rapidly up the river, 
for several hours, to the top of a long reach, where 



HUNTING THE MANITTJS. 103 

there were a number of low islands, covered with, 
grass, and where the banks were skirted by swampy- 
savannahs. Here many bushes were cut, and thrown 
lightly over the boats, so as to make them resem- 
ble floating trees. We waited patiently until the 
proper hour arrived, when the boats were cast 
loose from the shore, and we drifted down with the 
current. One man was placed in the stern with a 
paddle to steer, another with a harpoon and line 
crouched in the bow, while the rest, keeping their 
long keen lances clear of impediments, knelt on 
the bottom. We glided down in perfect silence, 
one boat close to each bank. I kept my eyes 
opened to the widest, and in the dim light got 
quite excited over a dozen logs or so, which I mis- 
took for manitee. But the hunters made no sign, 
and we drifted on, until I got impatient, and be- 
gan to fear that our expedition might prove a 
failure. But of a sudden, when I least expected 
it, the man in the bow launched his harpoon. The 
movement was followed by a heavy plunge, and in 
an instant the boat swung round, head to the 
stream. Before I could fairly comprehend what 
was going on, the boughs were all thrown over- 
board, and the men stood with their long lances 
poised, ready for instant use. We had run out a 
large part of the slack of the harpoon-line, which 
seemed to be fast to some immovable object. The 
bowsman, however, now began to gather it in, 
dragging up the boat slowly against the current. 
Suddenly the manitus, for it was one, left his hold 
on the bottom, and started diagonally across the 
river, trailing us rapidly after him. This move- 
ment gradually brought him near the surface, as 
we could see by the commotion of the water. 



104 THE MOSQUITO SHO&E. 

Down darted one of the lances, and under again 
went the manitus, now taking his course with the 
current, down the stream. The other boat, mean- 
time, had come to our assistance, hovering in 
front of us, in order to fasten another harpoon the 
instant the victim should approach near enough to 
the surface. An opportunity soon offered, and he 
received the second harpoon and another lance at 
the same instant. All this time I had both bar- 
rels of my gun cocked, feverishly awaiting my 
chance for a shot. Soon the struggles of the ani- 
mal became less violent, and he several times came 
involuntarily to the surface. I watched my chance, 
when his broad head rose in sight, and discharged 
both barrels, at a distance of thirty feet, startling 
the hunters quite as much as they had discon- 
certed me. It was a mercy that some of them did 
not get shot in the general scramble ! 

The manitus, after receiving the second har- 
poon, became nearly helpless, and the Indians, ap- 
parently secure of their object, allowed the boats 
to drift with him quietly down the river. Occa- 
sionally he made an ineffectual attempt to dive to 
the bottom, dashing the water into foam in his 
efforts, but long before we reached the village he 
floated at the surface, quite dead. The morning 
was bright and clear when we paddled ashore, 
where we found every inhabitant of the place clus- 
tering to meet us. When they saw that we had 
been successful, they set up loud shouts, and 
clapped their hands with vigour, whence (as this 
was the only manifestation of excitement which I 
had seen) I inferred that the capture of a manitus 
was regarded as something of a feat, even on the 
Mosquito Shore. 



A DISAPPOINTMENT. 105 

Ropes were speedily attached to the dead ani- 
mal, at which everybody seemed anxious to get a 
chance to pull, and it was dragged up the bank 
triumphantly, amid vehement shouts. I had been 
somewhat piqued at the contempt in which my gun 
had been held, and had been not a little ambitious 
of being able to say that I had killed a manitus, 
and as, after my shot, the animal had almost en- 
tirely ceased its struggles, I thought it possible I 
had given it the final coup, and might conscien- 
tiously get up a tolerable brag on my adventure, 
when I returned home. It was with some anxiety, 
therefore, that I investigated its ugly head, only to 
find that my balls had hardly penetrated the skin, 
and that the hide of the manitus is proof against 
anything in the shape of firearms, except, perhaps, 
a Minie rifle. And thus I was cheated out of an- 
other chance for immortality ! Lest, however, my 
story that the hide of the manitus is an inch thick, 
and tough as whalebone, should not be credited, 
I had a strip of it cut off, which, when dried, be- 
came like horn, and a terror to dogs in all my 
subsequent rambles. I suspect there are some im- 
pertinent curs here, who entertain stinging recol- 
lections of that same strip of manitus-hide ! Dr. 
Pounder, my old schoolmaster, I am sure, would 
sacrifice his eyes, or perhaps, what is of equal con- 
sequence, his spectacles, to obtain it ! 

.But while my balls were thus impotent, I found 
that the lances of the Indians had literally gone 
through and through the manitus. The harpoons 
did not penetrate far, their purpose being simply 
to fasten the animal. The lances were the fatal 
instruments, and I afterwards saw a young Indian 
drive his completely through the trunk of a full- 



106 



THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 



grown palm-tree. This variety of lance is called 
silak, and is greatly prized. 




MANITEE HARPOON AND LANCES. 



There were great doings in the village over the 
manitus. Beneath the skin there was a deep layer 
of very sweet fat, below which appeared the flesh, 
closely resembling beef, but coarser, and streaked 
throughout with layers of fat. This, when broiled 
before the fire, proved to be tender, well-flavoured, 
and altogether delicious food. The tail is esteemed 
the most delicate part, and, as observed by Captain 
Henderson, who had a trial of it on the same 
shore, ec is a dish of which Apicius might have been 
proud, and which the discriminating palate of 
Heliogabalus would have thought entitled to the 
most distinguished reward I" The better and more 
substantial part of the animal, namely, the flesh, 
was carefully cut in strips, rubbed with salt, and, 
hung up in the sun to dry, made into what the 
Spaniards call tasajo. The other portions were 
distributed among the various huts, and the tail 
was presented to me. When I came to leave, I 
found that the cured or tasajoed flesh had also 
been preserved for my use. Broiled on the coals, 
it proved quite equal to anything I ever tasted, 
and as sweet as dried venison. And here I may 
mention that the flesh of the manitus, like that of 
the turtle, is not only excellent food, but its effects 



FLESH OF THE MANITUS. 107 

on the system are beneficial, particularly in the 
cases of persons afflicted with scorbutic or scrofu- 
lous complaints. It is said these find speedy relief 
from its free use, and that, in the course of a few 
weeks, the disease entirely disappears. 



108 



THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 



CHAPTER VII. 




T the end of two weeks, I signified 
to my friends that I should be com- 
pelled, on the following day, to 
leave them, and pursue my voyage 
up the coast. I had supposed that 
there existed an interior connection between Great 
River and the lagoons which led to Cape Gracias, 
but found that they commenced with a stream some 
twenty miles to the northward, called €c Snook 
Creek," and that it would be necessary to trust our 
little boat again to the sea. 

The announcement of my intended departure was 
received without the slightest manifestation of feel- 
ing, but, during the evening, the inhabitants vied 
with each other in loading the canoe with fruits 



FAEEWELL PRESENTS. 109 

and provisions. They were, in fact, so lavish of 
their presents, that I was unable to accept them 
all, and had to leave more than half of what they 
brought me. I, nevertheless, made special room 
for the tasajoed manitus, and took all the bisbire 
which was brought. As I have already explained, 
the bisbire is a paste made of ripe plantains, having 
about the consistency, and very much the taste, of 
dried figs. It is made into rolls, closely wrapped 
in the leaves of the tree on which it grows, which 
preserve it perfectly, and it thus becomes an article 
of prime value to the voyager.* 

* The plantain and the banana are varieties of the same 
plant. They not only constitute marked features in the lux- 
uriant foliage of the tropics, but their fruit supplies the place 
of bread, and forms the principal part of the food of the 
people. They thrive best in a rich, moist soil, and are gene- 
rally grown in regular walks, from shoots or bulbs, like those 
of the air-plant, which continually spring up at the roots of 
the parent stem. They are very rapid in their growth, pro- 
ducing fruit within a twelvemonth. Moreover, not being 
dependent upon the seasons, a constant supply is kept up 
during the year ; for, while one stem drops beneath its load 
of ripe fruit, another throws out its long flower-spike, and a 
third shows the half-formed cluster. The fruit is very nutri- 
tive, and is eaten in a great variety of forms — raw, boiled, 
roasted, and fried — and in nearly every stage of its growth, 
as well when green as when yellow and mature. Humboldt 
tells us, that it affords, in a given extent of ground, forty-four 
times more nutritive matter than the potato, and one hun- 
dred and thirty-three times more than wheat. As it requires 
little if any care in the cultivation, and produces thus pe- 
rennially and abundantly, it may be called an " institution 
for the encouragement of laziness." On the banks of all the 
rivers on the Mosquito Shore, it is found growing wild, from 
shoots brought down from the plantations of the Indians, 
and which have taken root where they were lodged by the 
current. 



110 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

I left the village with as much ceremony as I 
had entered it. The Alcaldes, bearing their wands, 
escorted me down to the water, where I was obliged 
to shake hands with all the people, each one ex- 
claiming, et Disabia !" equivalent to " Good-bye t 9 * 
They stood on the bank until we were entirely out 
of sight. I left them with admiration for their 
primitive habits, and genuine though formal hospi- 
tality. Although, in their taciturnity, they were 
not unlike our own Indians, yet in all other re- 
spects they afforded a very striking contrast to 
them. The North American savage disdains to 
work ; his ambition lies in war and the chase ; but 
the gentler dweller under the tropics is often in- 
dustrious, and resorts to hunting only as an acces- 
sory to agriculture. 

The ceremonies of my departure had occupied so 
much time that, when we reached the mouth of 
the river, it was too late to venture outside. So we 
took up our quarters for the night in our old en- 
campment on the island. The moon was out, and 
the evening was exceedingly beautiful — so beauti- 
ful, indeed, that I might have fallen into heroics, 
had it not been for a most horrible concert kept up 
by wild animals on the river's banks. I at first 
supposed that all the ferocious beasts of the forest 
had congregated, preparatory to a general fight, and 
comforted myself that we were separated from them 
by the river. There were unearthly groans, and 
angry snarls, and shrieks, so like those of human 
beings in distress, as to send a thrill through every 
nerve. At times the noises seemed blended, and 
became sullen and distant, and then so sharp and 
near that I could hardly persuade myself they were 
not produced on the island itself. I should have 



NOCTURNAL NOISES. Ill 

passed the night in alarm, had not Antonio been 
there to explain to me that most, if not all these 
sounds, came from what the Spaniards call the 
"mono Colorado," or howling monkey. I after- 
wards saw a specimen— a large, ugly beast, of a 
dirty, brick-red colour, with a long beard, but other- 
wise like an African baboon. Different from most 
other monkeys, they remain in nearly the same 
places, and have favourite trees, in which an entire 
troop will take up its quarters at night, and open a 
horrible serenade, that never fails to fill the mind 
of the inexperienced traveller with the most dismal 
fancies. Notwithstanding Antonio's explanations, 
they so disturbed my slumbers that I got up about 
midnight, and, going down to the edge of the 
water, fired both barrels of my gun in the direction 
of the greatest noise. But I advise no one to try a 
similar experiment. All the water-birds and wild 
fowl roosting in the trees gave a sudden flutter, 
and set up responsive croaks and screams from 
which the monkeys seemed to derive great encou- 
ragement, and redoubled their howling. I was glad 
when the unwonted commotion ceased, and the de- 
nizens of the forest relapsed again into their chronic 
serenade. 

A large proportion of tropical animals are em- 
phatically " children of the night. - " It is at night 
that the tiger and maneless Mexican lion leave 
their lairs, and range the dense forests in pursuit 
of their prey, rousing the peccary and tapir from 
their haunts, and sending them to seek refuge in 
the thickets, where crashing of bushes and splash - 
ings in hidden pools testify to the blind fear of the 
pursued, and the fierce instincts of the pursuers, 
A sudden plunge of the alligator from the banks 



112 



THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 



will startle the wild birds on the overhanging trees, 
and in an instant the forest resounds to the wild 
cries of the tiger, the plaints of the frightened 
monkeys, and the shrieks and croaks of the nume- 
rous water-fowl ; while the wakeful traveller starts 
up and hastily grasps his faithful gun, surprised to 
find the wilderness, which was so still and slumber- 
ous under the noonday heats, now terrible with 
savage and warring life. 

Towards morning the commotion in the forest 
subsided, and I was enabled to snatch a few hours 
of slumber, I awoke to find the sun just streaking 
the horizon, and the boat all ready for departure. 
Antonio had cut two trunks of the buoyant mohoe 
tree, which were lashed to the sides of our boat to 
act as floats, and prevent us from being overturned 
by any sudden flaw of the wind. We passed the 
bar without much trouble, and made a good offing, 
before laying our course for " Snook Creek/' The 
wind was fresh, and the water bright and playful 
under the blue and cloudless sky. I leaned over 




MOLLESCA OP THE CARIBBEAN SEA. 



the side of our frail boat- 
broad breast of the ocean- 



—scarce a speck in the 
-and watched the nume- 



MONOTONOUS SHOEE. 113 

rous marine animals and mollusca that floated past ; 
the nautilus, " small commodore/' with its tiny sail 
and rosy prow, the pulsating rhizostoma, and the 
bernice, with its silken hair — most fragile forms of 
life, and yet unharmed dwellers in the mighty sea, 
which mocks at the strength of iron, and under- 
mines continents in its wrath ! 

During the afternoon we came close in shore, 
keeping a sharp look-out for the mouth of " Snook 
Creek/' There are, however, no landmarks on 
the entire coast ; throughout it wore the same flat, 
monotonous appearance — a narrow strip of sand in 
front of a low impenetrable forest, in which the 
fierce north-easters had left no large trees standing. 
Hence it is almost impossible for voyagers, not in- 
timately acquainted with the shore, to determine 
their position. My Poyer boy had coasted here 
but once, and I found, towards evening, that he 
was of opinion that we had passed the mouth of 
the creek of which we were in search. So we re- 
solved to stand along the shore for either Walpasixa 
or Prinza-pulka, where part of the hull of an 
American ship, wrecked some time before, still re- 
mained as a guide to voyagers. 

As the sun went down, the wind fell, and the 
moon came up, shedding its light upon the broad, 
smooth swells of the sea, silver-burnished upon 
one side, and on the other dark but clear, like the 
shadows on polished steel. We lowered our use- 
less sail, and my companions took their paddles, 
keeping time to a kind of chant, led off by Antonio, 
the Poyer boy joining in the swelling chorus. The 
melody was very simple, and, like that of all purely 
Indian chants, sad and plaintive. I have often 
thought, in listening to them, that they were the 

i 



114 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

wails of a people conscious of their decay, over a 
continent slipping from their grasp, and a power 
broken for ever ! 

I lay long, watching the shore as it glided past, 
and listening to the tinkle of the water under our 
prow, but finally fell into a deep and dreamless 
slumber, rocked by the ocean in its gentlest mood. 
When I awoke we had already passed the Prinza- 
pulka bar, and were fastened to the branches of a 
large tree, which had become entangled among the 
mangroves, on the banks of the river. It was with 
no small degree of satisfaction that I found we had 
now an uninterrupted river and lagoon navigation 
to Cape Gracias, and that we should not again be 
obliged to venture, with our little boat, upon the 
open sea. 

The Prinza-pulka seemed rather an estuary than 
a river, and was lined with an impenetrable forest 
of mangroves. These were covered with flocks of 
the white ibis, and, as we advanced up the stream, 
we came upon others of a rose colour, looking like 
bouquets of flowers among the green leaves of the 
trees. 

At the distance of three miles, the river banks 
grew higher, although densely covered with wild 
plants and vines which seemed to have subdued 
the forest. The few trees that were left were clus- 
tered all over with twining rope-plants, or lianes, 
sometimes hanging down and swinging in mid air, 
and again stretched to the ground like the cordage 
of a ship, supporting in turn hundreds of creepers, 
with leaves of translucent green, and loaded with 
clusters of bright flowers. An occasional fan-palm 
thrust itself above the tangled verdure, as if strug- 
gling for light and air ; while the broad leaves of 



VERDT7KE. 115 

the wild plantain emerged here and there in 
groups, and the slender stalks of the bamboo-cane, 
fringed with delicate leaves like those of the wil- 
low, bent gracefully over the water. At the foot 
of this emerald wall was a strip of slimy earth, and 
I observed occasional holes, or tunnel-like aper- 
tures, through which the alligator trailed his hideous 
length, or the larger land-animals came down to 
the water to drink. As we glided by one of these 
openings, a tapir suddenly projected his head and 
ugly proboscis, but, startled by our canoe, as sud- 
denly withdrew it, and disappeared in the dark 
recesses of the impenetrable jungle, in which it is 
beyond the power of man to penetrate, except he 
laboriously carves his way, foot by foot, in the 
matted mass. 

About ten o'clock we reached the mouth of a 
narrow creek, or stream, diverging from the river 
under a complete canopy of verdure. Up this 
creek, my Poyer assured me, the Prinza-pulka 
village was situated. So we paddled in, and, after 
many windings, finally came where the vegetation 
was less rank, and the banks were higher and 
firmer. I began to breathe freer, for the air within 
these tropical fastnesses seemed to me loaded with 
miasmatic damps, like the atmosphere of a vault. 
As we proceeded, the country became more and 
more open, and the water clearer, revealing a gra- 
velly bottom, until at last, to my surprise, we came 
upon broad savannahs, fringed, along the water, 
by narrow belts of trees. Through these I caught 
glimpses of gentle swells and undulations of land, 
upon which, to my further amazement, I saw 
clumps of pine-trees ! I had supposed the pine to 
be found only in high, temperate latitudes, and 



116 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

could scarcely believe that it grew here, side by 
side with the- palm, almost on a level with, the sea, 
until I was assured by my Poyer that it abounded 
in all the savannahs, and covered all the plateaux 
and mountains of the interior. 

A bend in the creek brought us suddenly in view 
of a group of canoes, drawn up on the shore, in 
front of a few scattered huts. One or two women, 
engaged in some occupation at the edge of the 
water, fled when they saw us, scrambling up the 
bant in evident alarm. As we approached nearer, 
I saw through the bushes a number of men hurry- 
ing back and forth, and calling to each other in 
excited voices. Before we had fairly reached the 
landing-place, they had collected among the canoes, 
whence they motioned us back with violent ges- 
tures. Some were armed with spears, others had 
bows and arrows, and two or three carried muskets, 
which they pointed at us in a very careless and 
unpleasant manner. I observed that they were 
Sambos, like those at Wasswatla, equally frizzled 
about the head, and spotted with the bulpis. 
Whenever we attempted to approach, they shouted 
" Bus ! bus !" and raised their weapons. The 
Poyer boy responded by calling " Wita" i. e. } 
chief, or head man. Hereupon one of the number 
came forward a little, and inquired, " Inglis ? In- 
glis?" pointing to me. I held up my pass, 
and, remembering Wasswatla, pointed to it, ex- 
claiming, " King paper ! king paper \" This 
seemed to produce an impression, and we made a 
movement to land, but up came the ^uns again, 
their muzzles looking as large as church doors. 
Things certainly appeared squally, and I was a 
little puzzled what to do. Prudence suggested 



A DOUBTFUL RECEPTION. II 7 

that we should retreat, but then that might be 
understood as an evidence of fear, which, with 
savages, as with wild beasts, is a sure way of in- 
viting attack, I preferred, therefore, to await 
quietly the result of a conference which seemed to 
be going on, and in which I noticed I was frequently 
pointed out, with very suggestive gestures. While 
this was going on, Antonio carefully got out my 
gun and revolver, handing me the latter in such a 
manner as not to attract notice. He had evinced 
a high consideration for it, ever since it had played 
so large a part in my first interview with the patron 
at "ElRoncador." 

After much debate, two of the Sambos, including 
the head man, pushed off to us in a canoe, under 
the cover of the weapons of those on shore. They, 
however, fell back in evident alarm when they 
caught sight of my revolver. I therefore laid it 
down, extended both open hands, and hailed them 
with the Mosquito salutation, which applies equally 
at all hours of the day and night, " Good morning V 
They replied, with the universal drawl, Ci Momin\ 
sir l". I put my " king paper" forward, very con- 
spicuously, and read it through to them, no doubt 
to their edification. The head man said, " Good ! 
good I" when I had finished, but nevertheless 
seemed suspicious of the contents of our boat, in- 
quiring, in a broken way, for " Osnabergs/' and 
"panda" or powder. I explained to them, as 
well as I could, that we were not traders, which 
piece of information did not seem to please them. 
But when^they caught sight of my demijohn, they 
evinced more amiability, which I hastened to 
heighten by giving them a calabash of the contents. 

They afterwards signified their willingness to let 



US THE MOSOriTO SHORE. 

me go ashore, if I would first give them my gun 
and revolver, which I sternly and peremptorily re- 
fused to do. They finally paddled to the shore, 
motioning for us to follow. Upon landing, I gave 
them each a dram, which was swallowed in a 
breath, with unequivocal signs of relish. The head 
men, after another ineffectual attempt to induce 
me to surrender my revolver, led the way up the 
bank, Antonio and the Poyer boy remaining with 
the canoe. 

The village was very straggling and squalid, al- 
though the position was one of great beauty. It 
stood on the edge of an extensive savannah, 
covered thickly with coarse grass, and dotted over 
with little clusters of bushes, and clumps of dark 
pines, more resembling a rich park, laid out with 
consummate skill, than a scene on a wild and un- 
known shore, under the tropics. As we advanced, 
I observed that the huts were all comparatively 
new. and that there were many burnt spots, marked 
by charred posts and half-burned thatch- poles. 
Among the rubbish, in one or two places, I noticed 
fragments of earthenware of European manufac- 
ture, and pieces of copper sheathing, evidently 
from some vessel. 

I was conducted to the head man's hut, where 
room was made for me to sit down on one of the 
crickeries. Some kind of fermented drink was 
brought for me, which I had great difficulty in de- 
clining. In fact, I did not like the general aspect 
of things. In the first place, there were no women 
visible, and then the ugly customers with the guns 
and spears, when not scrutinizing me or my revol- 
ver — which seemed to have a strange fascination 



TROUBLE BREWING. 119 

in their eyes — were engaged in a very sinister kind 
of consultation. 

The head man seemed particularly anxious to 
know my destination, and the purposes of my visit. 
My suspicions had been roused, and I represented 
myself as a little in advance of a large party from 
the Cape, bound down the coast, and inquired, in 
return, what kind of accommodations could be pro- 
vided for my companions when they arrived. This 
rather disconcerted him, and I thought the oppor- 
tunity favourable to fall back to the boat, now fully 
convinced that some kind of treachery was medi- 
tated. A movement was made to intercept me at 
the door, but the presented muzzle of my revolver 
opened the way in an instant, and I walked slowly 
down to the landing, the armed men following, and 
calling out angrily, t€ Mer'ka man ! Mer'ka man !" 
Antonio stood at the top of the bank, with my gun, 
his face wearing an anxious expression. He whis- 
pered to me hurriedly, in Spanish, that half-a-dozen 
armed men had gone down the creek in a boat, 
and that he had no doubt the intention was to at- 
tack us. 

In fact the cowardly wretches were now brand- 
ishing their weapons, and uttering savage shouts. 
I at once saw that there was but one avenue of es- 
cape open, namely, to take to our boat, and get 
away as fast as possible. I waited until my com- 
panions had taken their places, and then walked 
down the bank deliberately, and entered the canoe. 
A few rapid strokes of the paddles carried us well 
clear of the shore, before the Sambos reached the 
top of the bank. I brought my gun to bear upon 
them, determined to fire the instant they should 



120 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

manifest any overt act of hostility. They seemed 
to comprehend this., and contented themselves 
with running after us, along the bank, shouting 
" Mer'ka man !" and pointing their weapons at us, 
through the openings in the bushes. 

"We were not long in getting beyond their reach, 
but they nevertheless kept up loud, taunting shouts, 
while we were within hearing. I counted this a 
lucky escape from the village, but was not at my 
ease about the party which had gone down the 
creek. I felt sure that they were in ambush in 
some of the dark recesses of the banks, and that 
we might be attacked at any moment. Both An- 
tonio and myself, therefore, sat down in the bot- 
tom of the canoe, closely watching the shores, 
while the Poyer boy paddled noiselessly in the 
stern. It was now near night, and the shadows 
gathered so darkly over the narrow stream that we 
could see nothing distinctly. On we went, steal- 
thily and watchfully. "We had reached the darkest 
covert on the creek, a short distance above its junc- 
tion with the river, when a large canoe shot from 
the bank across our bows, with the evident purpose 
of intercepting us. At the same instant a flight 
of arrows whizzed past us, one or two striking in 
the canoe, while the others spattered the water 
close by. I at once commenced firing my revolver, 
while Antonio, seizing the long manitee- spear, 
sprang to the bow. At the same instant our canoe 
struck the opposing boat, as the saying is, " head 
on," crushing in its rotten sides, and swamping it 
in a moment. Antonio gave a wild shout of 
triumph, driving his spear at the struggling 
wretches, some of whom endeavoured to save 
themselves by climbing into our canoe. I heard 



THE PLIGHT. 121 

the dull t chug of the lance as it struck the body of 
one of the victims, and, with a sickening sensa- 
tion, cried to the Poyer, who had also seized a 
lance to join in the slaughter, to resume his paddle. 
He did so, and in a few seconds we were clear of 
the scene of bur encounter, and gliding away in 
the darkness. I caught a glimpse of the strug- 
gling figures clinging to their shattered boat, and 
uttering the wildest cries of alarm and distress. 
The quick ear of Antonio caught responsive shouts, 
and it soon became evident that we had been fol- 
lowed by boats from the village. 

Convinced that we would be pursued, and that 
if overtaken we should be borne down by numbers, 
the question of our safety became one of superior 
craft, or superior speed. I was disposed to try 
the latter, but yielded to Antonio, who, watching 
an opportunity, ran our boat under an overhang- 
ing tree, where the tangled bank cast an impene- 
trable shadow on the water. Here we breathlessly 
awaited the course of events. It was not long be- 
fore we heard a slight ripple, and through the un- 
certain light I saw three canoes dart rapidly and 
silently past. The pursuers evidently thought we 
had reached the river, where the mangroves and 
impenetrable jungles on the banks would effec- 
tually prevent concealment or escape. Relieved 
from the sense of immediate danger, it became a 
vital question what we should next do to secure 
our ultimate safety. The moon would soon be up, 
and our pursuers, not finding us on the river, 
would at once divine our trick, and, placing us be- 
tween themselves and the town, render escape im- 
possible. To abandon our boat was to court a 
miserable death in the woods. Antonio suggested 



122 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

the only feasible alternative. There were but three 
canoes, and when they reached the river, he 
shrewdly reasoned, two would follow our most pro- 
bable track down the stream, while the third would 
doubtless search for us above. Our policy, then, 
was to follow in the wake of the latter, until it 
should be as widely separated from aid as possible, 
and then, by a sudden coup-de-main, either disable 
or paralyse our opponents, and make the best of 
our way into the interior, where we could not fail 
to find creeks, and other places of refuge from 
pursuit. 

My companions stripped themselves, so as not to 
be encumbered in the water, in case of accident, 
and I followed their example, retaining only my 
dark shirt, lest my white body should prove too 
conspicuous a mark. I carefully loaded my pistols, 
put a handful of buck-shot in each barrel of my 
gun, and we started down the creek. A few mo- 
ments brought us to the river, but we could neither 
see nor hear the canoes of our enemies. We turned 
up the stream, paddling rapidly, but silently, and 
keeping close to the shore. Every few minutes 
Antonio would stop to listen. Meantime, I hailed 
with joy some heavy clouds in the East, which 
promised to prolong the obscurity, by hiding the 
light of the rising moon. 

The excitement of the night of the terrible storm, 
in which I was wrecked on " El Roncador," was 
trifling to what I experienced that evening, pad- 
dling iip the dark and sullen river. I exulted in 
every boat's length which we gained, as tending to 
make the inevitable contest more equal, and wel- 
comed every ebon fold of cloud which gathered in 
the horizon. I felt that a thunder-storm was 



GATHERING OP THE STOHH. 123 

brooding; and the marshalling of the elements 
roused still more the savage desperation which 
gradually absorbed every other feeling and senti- 
ment. At first, every nerve in my system vibrated, 
and I trembled in every limb ; I felt like one in an 
ague fit ; but this soon passed away — every muscle 
became tense, and I felt the strong pulsations in 
my temples, as if molten iron were coursing through 
the veins. I no longer sought to avoid a contest, 
but longed for the hour to come when I could shed 
blood. Every moment seemed an age, and I know 
not how I subdued my impatience. 

Meantime the threatened storm gathered with 
a rapidity peculiar to the tropics on the eve of a 
fervid day, and the darkness became so dense that 
we several times ran our boat against the bank 
from sheer inability to see. Suddenly the dark veil 
of heaven was rift, and the lurid lightning fell with 
a blinding flash which seemed to sear our eyeballs. 
An instant after rolled in the deep-voiced thunder, 
booming awfully among the primeval forests. A 
few raindrops followed, which struck with steel- 
like sharpness on the naked skin, and hot puffs of 
air came soughing along the river. A moment after 
the heavens again glowed with the lightnings, glar- 
ing on the dark breast of the river, and revealing, 
but a few yards in advance of us, the hostile canoe, 
returning from what its occupants no doubt regarded 
as a hopeless pursuit. Their loud shout of savage 
defiance and joy was cut short by the heavy roll of 
the thunder, and, an instant after, the bows of 
our boats came together. They glanced apart, and I 
was nearly thrown from my balance into the water, 
for I had risen, the more surely to pour the contents 
*of my gun into the midst of our assailants. Another 



124 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

shout followed the shock, and I heard the arrows, 
shot at random in the darkness, hiss past our heads. 
I reserved 'my fire until the lightning should fall 
to guide my aim. I had not long to wait ; a third 
flash revealed the opposing boat ; I saw that it was 
filled with men, and that in their midst stood the 
treacherous head man of the village. The flash of 
my gun and that of the lightning, so far as human 
senses could discern, were simultaneous; yet instan- 
taneous as the whole transaction must have been, I 
saw my victim fall, and heard his body plunge in 
the water, before the report had been caught up by 
the echo, or drowned by the thunder. I shall never 
forget the shriek of terror and of rage that rang out 
from that boat to swell the angry discord of the 
elements. Even now it often startles me from my 
sleep. But then it inspired me with the wildest 
joy; I shouted back triumphantly, and tossed my 
arms exultingly in the face of the unblenching 
darkness. A few more arrows, a couple of musket- 
shots, fired at random towards us, and the combat 
was over. We heard wails and groans, but they grew 
fainter and more distant, showing that our enemies 
were dropping down the river. Another flash of 
lightning disclosed them drifting along the bank, 
and beyond the reach of our weapons. 

Our purpose was now accomplished; our foes 
were behind us, and before us an unknown mesh of 
lagoons and rivers. We had no alternative but to 
advance, perhaps upon other and more formidable 
dangers. However that might be, we did not stop 
to consider, but all through the stormy night plied 
our paddles with incessant energy. About midnight 
we came to a small lagoon, on the banks of which 
we observed some fires, but the sky was still over- 



THE ESCAPE. 125 

cast, and we escaped notice. Towards morning the 
moon came out, and we directed our boat close in 
shore, so as to take refuge in some obscure creek 
during the day. An opening finally presented itself, 
and we paddled in. As we advanced it became 
narrow, and was obstructed by drooping branches 
and fallen trunks. Under some of them we forced 
our boat with difficulty, and others we cut away 
with our machetes. After infinite trouble and labour 
we passed the mangrove-swamp, and came to high 
grounds, on which were many coyol palm-trees, and 
a few dark pines. Here, exhausted with our ex- 
traordinary efforts, and no longer sustained by 
excitement, we made a hasty encampment. To 
guard against surprise Antonio undertook the first 
watch, and, wrapping myself in my blanket, I fell 
into a profound slumber. 

And now, to remove any mystery which might 
attach to the hostile conduct of the Sambos at 
Quamwatla (for that was the name of the inhos- 
pitable village), I may explain that, in September, 
1849, the bark " Simeon Draper," from New York, 
bound for Chagres, with passengers for California, 
was wrecked on the coast, near the mouth of the 
Prinza-pulka Eiver. The remains of her hull I 
have alluded to, as now constituting one of the 
principal landmarks on that monotonous shore. 
Her passengers all escaped to the land, and suc- 
ceeded in recovering most of their effects. They 
were soon discovered by the Sambos of Quamwatla, 
who, affecting friendship, nevertheless committed 
extensive depredations on the property of the pas- 
sengers. Strong representations were made to the 
head man, but without effect ; in fact, it soon be- 
came evident that he was the principal instigator 



126 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

of the robberies. The news of the wreck spreacb 
along the coast, and a large number of Sambos 
gathered at the village. As their numbers in- 
creased, they grew bold and hostile, until the po- 
sition of the passengers became one of danger. 
They finally received intimations that a concerted 
attack would soon be made upon them, which they 
anticipated by an assault upon the Sambo village. 
The inhabitants, taken by surprise, fled after a few 
discharges of the rifles and revolvers, and the vil- 
lage was set on fire and burned to the ground. The 
wrecked Americans were not afterwards disturbed,, 
and their condition becoming known in San Juan, 
a vessel was dispatched to their relief, and they 
were taken off in safety. 

It was not until I arrived at Cape Gracias 
that I became acquainted with these facts, which 
accounted for the appearance of things in Quam- 
watla, and explained the hostility of the natives. 
Every Englishman on the coast is a trader, and as- 
I disowned that character, and, moreover, carried 
a revolver, they were not long in making up their 
minds that I was an enemy. 

Under all the circumstances of the case, our 
escape was almost miraculous. I subsequently 
ascertained that three of our assailants had been 
killed outright in the two encounters, and that the 
treacherous head man had died of his wounds. 

It is with no feeling of exultation that I mention 
this fact ; for, so long as I live, I shall not cease to 
lament the necessity, which circumstances imposed 
upon me, of taking the life of a human being, how- 
ever debased or criminal. I know of no sacrifice 
which I would not now make to restore those mise- 



QUALMS OF CONSCIENCE. 127 

rable wretches to their deserted huts, and to the 
rude affection of which even savages are capable. 
The events of that terrible night have left a shadow 
over my heart, which time rather serves to deepen 
than to efface. 



128 



THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 



CHAPTER VIII. 




XTR reception at Quaxnwatla had 
certainly not been of a kind to 
inspire us with the most cheer- 
ful anticipations. "We knew that 
a vast network of lagoons, rivers, and creeks ex- 
tended to Cape Gracias, but of the character and 
disposition of the people scattered along their tan- 
gled shores we were utterly ignorant. Turning 
back ,was not to be thought of; and going ahead 
was a matter which required caution. Should we 
be so unfortunate as to get involved in another 
fight, we could hardly expect to get off so easily as 
we had done in our last encounter. 
Under all the circumstances, we concluded that, 



CAMP IN THE WILDERNESS. 129 

inasmuch as our place of refuge seemed secure, and 
withal was not deficient in resources, it would be 
the wisest plan to remain where we were until the 
pursuit, which we were sure would be made, should 
have been abandoned ; or, at least, until the waning 
of the moon should afford us a dark night, wherein 
we could pursue our voyage unobserved. With this 
sage resolution, we set to work to establish a tem- 
porary camp. 

As I have said, the little creek, which we had 
followed, led us to the base of a range of low hills, 
or rather ridges or swells of land, where the 
ground was not alluvial, but dry and gravelly. 
These ridges could hardly be called savannahs, 
although they were covered with a species of 
coarse grass, relieved here and there by clumps of 
gum-arabic bushes, groups of pine-trees, and an 
occasional coyol, or spiny-palm. Between these 
comparatively high grounds and the lagoon inter- 
vened a dense, impenetrable mango swamp, pierced 
by a few choked channels formed by the small 
streams coming down from the hills. 

I selected the shelter of a clump of fragrant 
pines for our encampment, where the ground was 
covered with a soft, brown carpet of fallen leaves. 
A rope stretched between the trees supported our 
little sail, which was spread out, tent-wise, by 
poles. Under this my hammock was suspended, 
affording a retreat, shady and cool by day, and 
secure from damps and rains at night. 

In a little grassy dell, close by, was a clear 
spring of water. We lit no fires except at 
night, lest the smoke might betray us ; and only 
then in places whence the light could not be re- 
flected. 

K 



130 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

Accustomed as were my companions to wild and 
savage life, they seemed to enjoy the danger and 
the seclusion in which we found ourselves. It gave 
them an opportunity to display their skill and re- 
sources, and they really assumed towards me an air 
of complacent patronage, something like that of a 
city habitue towards his country cousin, when show- 
ing to him the marvels of the metropolis. 

One of Antonio' s earliest exploits, after our re- 
solution to stop had been taken, was to cut down a 
number of the rough-looking palm-trees. In the 
trunks of these, near their tops, where the leaver 
sprang out, he carefully chiselled a hole, cutting 
completely through the pulp of the tree, to the 
outer, or woody shell. This hole was again covered 
with the piece of rind, which had first been re- 
moved, as with a lid. I watched the operation 
curiously, but asked no questions. In the course 
of the afternoon, however, he took off one of these 
covers, and disclosed to me the cavity filled with a 
frothy liquid, of the faintest straw tinge, looking 
like delicate Sauterne wine. He presented me with 
a piece of reed, and with a gratified air motioned 
me to drink. My early experiments with straws, 
in the cider-barrels of New England, recurred to 
me at once, and I laughed to think that I had 
come to repeat them under the tropics. I found 
the juice sweet, and slightly pungent, but alto- 
gether rich, delicious, and invigorating. As may 
be supposed, I paid frequent visits to Antonio's 
reservoirs. 

This palm bears the name of coyol among the 
Spaniards, and ofcockatruce among the Mosquitoes. 
Its juice is called by the former Vino de Coyol, 
and by the Indians generally Chicha (cheechee) — 



VIXO DE COYOL. 131 

a name, however, winch is applied to a variety of 
drinks. When the tree is cut down, the end is 
plastered with mud, to prevent the juice, with 
which the core is saturated, from exuding. A hole 
is then cut near the top, as I have described, in 
which the liquid is gradually distilled, filling the 
reservoir in the course of ten or twelve hours. 
This reservoir may be emptied daily, and yet be 
constantly replenished, it is said, for upwards of a 
month. On the third day, if the tree be exposed 
to the sun, the juice begins to ferment, and gra- 
dually grows stronger, until, at the end of a couple 
of weeks, it becomes intoxicating — thus affording 
to the Sambos a ready means of getting up the 
"big drunk." The Spaniards affirm that the 
u vino de coyol" is a specific for indigestion and 
pains in the stomach. 

The nuts of this variety of palm grow in large 
clusters. They are round, containing a very solid 
kernel, so saturated with oil as to resemble refined 
wax. It is in all respects superior to the ordinary 
cocoa-nut oil, and might be obtained in any 
desirable quantity, if means could be devised for 
separating the kernel from the shell. This shell is 
thick, hard, black, capable of receiving the minutest 
carving and most brilliant polish, and is often 
worked into ornaments by the Indians. 

In the moist depressions, or valleys, near our 
encampment, we also found another variety of 
palm, which often stands the traveller, under the 
tropics, in good stead, as a substitute for other and 
better vegetable food. I mean the Palmetto, Royal, 
or Mountain Cabbage (Areca oleracea), which has 
justly been called the "Queen of the Forest." 
It grows to a great height, frequently no thicker 



132 



THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 



than a man's thigh, yet rising upwards of a 
hundred and fifty feet in the air, No other 
j tree in the world equals 

it in height or beauty. 
The trunk swells mode- 
rately a short distance 
above the root, whence 
it tapers gently to its 
emerald crown, sustain- 
ing throughout the most 
elegant proportions. 

The edible part, or 
" cabbage" (as it is called, 
from some fancied re- 
semblance in taste to 
that vegetable), consti- 
tutes the upper part of 
the trunk, whence the 
foliage springs. It re- 
sembles a tall Etruscan 
vase in shape, of the live- 
liest green colour, gently 
swelling from its pedes- 
tal, and diminishing gra- 
dually to the top, where 
it expands in plume-like 
branches. From the 
very centre of this natu- 
ral vase rises a tall, yel- 
lowish spatha, or sheath, 
terminating in a sharp 
point. At the bottom 
of this, and enclosed in 
the natural vase which I have described, is found 
a tender white core, or heart, varying in size with 




PALMETTO BOYAL. 



PALMETTO KOYAL. 133 

the dimensions of the tree, but usually eight or ten 
inches in circumference. This may be eaten raw, 
as a salad, or, if preferred, fried or boiled. In 
taste it resembles an artichoke rather than a 
cabbage. 

The Indians climb this palm, and, dextrously 
inserting their knives, contrive to obtain the edible 
part without destroying the tree itself. By means 
of the same contrivance which he made use of in 
obtaining the cocoa-nuts, on the island in Pearl 
Cay Lagoon, Antonio kept us supplied with palm 
cabbages, which were our chief reliance in the 
vegetable line. I found that they were most 
palatable when properly seasoned, and baked in 
the ground, with some strips of manitee fat, after 
the manner which I have already described. 

The fruits of this tree are small, oblong berries, 
of a purplish blue, about the size of an olive, en- 
closing a smooth, brittle nut, which, in turn, 
covers a cartilaginous kernel. 

The pine ridges were not deficient in animal life. 
A few large cotton-trees grew on the edge of the 
mangrove-swamp, which were the nightly resort 
of parrots and parroquets, who came literally in 
clouds, and then the callings, scoldings, frettings, 
and screamings that took place would have drowned 
the confusion of the most vicious rookery extant. 
In the evening and morning it was really difficult 
for us to make each other hear, although our camp 
was distant more than two hundred yards from 
the roosts. The parrots are often eaten by the 
natives, in default of other food, but they are 
tough, hard, dry, and tasteless. Not so, however, 
with the quails, which were not only numerous, 
but so tame, or rather so unsuspecting, that we 



134 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

could catch as many as we wanted, in the simplest 
kind of traps. We adopted this method of pro- 
curing such game as the Poyer boy did not kill 
with his bow, instead of using my gun, the report 
of which might betray us. 

Day by day we extended our excursions further 
from the camp, every step revealing to me, at least, 
something novel and interesting. I think it was 
the third day after our arrival, when we came upon 
a patch of low ground, or jungle, densely wooded, 
and distant perhaps half a mile from our encamp- 
ment. Attracted by some bright flowers, I pene- 
trated a few yards into the bushes, where, to my 
surprise, I came upon what appeared to be a well- 
beaten path, which I followed for some distance, 
wondering over the various queer tracks which I 
observed printed, here and there, on the moist 
ground. While thus engaged, I was startled by 
the sound of some animal approaching, with a dull 
and heavy, but rapid tread. Looking up, I saw a 
lead-coloured beast, about the size of a large 
donkey, its head drooping between its fore legs, 
coming towards me at a swinging trot. Thinking 
he was charging upon me direct, I leaped into the 
bushes, with the intention of climbing up a tree. 
But before I could effect my object, the monster 
lumbered past, taking not the slightest notice of 
my presence. I breathed freer, when I saw his 
broad buttocks and little pig-like tail disappearing 
down the path, and I made my way out of the 
jungle in a manner probably more expeditious 
than either graceful or valorous. Antonio, who 
was dodging after a fat curassow, had heard the 
noise, and was witness of my retreat. He seemed 
alarmed at first, but only smiled when I explained 



TOUCHING THE TAPIR. 135 

"what I liad seen. In fact, lie appeared to think it 
rather a good joke, and hurried off to examine the 
tracks, He came back in a few minutes, and re- 
ported that my monster was only a dante, which I 
took to be some kind of Indian lingo for at least a 
hippopotamus, or rhinoceros. 

"We shall have rare sport/' he continued, "in 
catching this dante. It will be equal to hunting 
the manitus." 

I found, upon inquiry, that the dante is called, 
in the Mosquito dialect, tilba or tapia, which 
names at once suggested tapir, an animal of which 
I had read, but of which I had very vague notions. 

The Poyer boy seemed delighted with the news 
that there was a tapir about, and in less than five 
minutes after both he and Antonio were sharpen- 
ing their spears and lances, with palpable design 
on my monster's life. They told me that the tapir 
generally keeps quiet during the day, wandering 
out at night, usually in fixed haunts and by the 
same paths, to take exercise and obtain his food. 
I was not a little relieved when they added that he 
never fights with man or beast, but owes his safety 
to his speed, thick hide, and ability to take to the 
water, where he is as much at home as on land, 
swimming or sinking to the bottom at his plea- 
sure. He is, nevertheless, a headlong beast, and 
when alarmed or pursued stops at nothing — vines, 
bushes, trees, rocks, are all the same to him ! He 
would do well for a crest, with the motto, u Neck 
or Nothing ! " 

In shape, the dante or tapir (sometimes called 
mountain cow) is something like a hog, but much 
larger. He has a similar arched back ; his head, 
however, is thicker, and comes to a sharp ridge at 



136 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

the top. The male has a snout or sort of probos- 
cis hanging over the opening of the mouth, some- 
thing like the trunk of an elephant, which he uses 
in like manner. This is wanting in the female. 
Its ears are rounded, bordered with white, and can 
be drawn forward at pleasure ; its legs are thick 
and stumpy ; its fore feet or hoofs are divided into 
three parts or toes, with a sort of false hoof be- 
hind ; but the hind feet have only three parts or 
divisions. Its tail is short, and marked by a few 
stiff hairs ; the skin so hard and solid as generally 
to resist a musket-ball ; the hair thin and short, of 
a dusky brown ; and along the top of the neck runs 
a bristly mane, which extends over the head and 
down the snout. He has ten cutting-teeth, and an 
equal number of grinders in each jaw; features 
which separate him entirely from the ox kind, and 
from all other ruminating animals. He lives upon 
plants and roots, and, as I have said, is perfectly 
harmless in disposition. The female produces but 
one young at a birth, of which she is very tender, 
leading it, at an early age, to the water, and in- 
structing it to swim. 

This description finished, the reader is ready to 
accompany us in our nocturnal expedition against 
the tapir. Before it became dark, Antonio, ac- 
companied by the boy, went to the thicket which 
I have described, and felled several stout trees across 
the path, in such a manner as to form a kind of 
cul de $ac. The design of this was to arrest the 
animal on his return, and enable us to spear him 
before he could break through or disengage him- 
self. We went to the spot early in the evening, 
and, as the moon did not rise until late, Antonio 
caught his hat half full of fire flies, which served 



HUNTING THE TAPIE. 137 

to guide us in the bush. He then pulled off their 
wings and scattered them among the fallen trees, 
where they gave light enough to enable us to dis- 
tinguish objects with considerable clearness. Not- 
withstanding Antonio' s assurances that the tapir 
was a member of the Peace Society, I could not 
divest myself of the alarm which he had given me 
in the morning, and I was not at all sorry to find 
that my companions had selected a spot for their 
abattis, where an overhanging tree enabled me to 
keep out of harm's way, yet near enough to take a 
sly drive with my lance at the tapir, if he should 
happen to come that way. 

Antonio and the Poyer boy took their stations 
among the fallen trees ■ I took mine, and we 
awaited the derate' s pleasure. I strained my eyes 
in vain endeavours to penetrate the gloom, and 
held my breath full half the time to hear the ex- 
pected tread. But we peered, and listened, and 
waited in vain ; the fire-flies crawled away in every 
direction, and yet the tapir obstinately kept away. 
Finally, the moon came up ; and by and by it rose 
above the trees — and still no tapir ! 

My seat on the tree became uncomfortable, and 
I instituted a comparison between tapir and mani- 
tus-hunting, largely to the advantage of the latter ; 
and, finally, when Antonio whispered " He is 
coming I" I felt a wilful disposition to contradict 
him. But my ear, meanwhile, caught the same 
dull sound which had arrested my attention in the 
morning ; and, a few moments afterwards, I could 
make out the beast, in the dim light, driving on at 
the same swinging trot. Right on he came, heed- 
less and headlong. Crash ! crash ! There was a 
plunge and struggle, and a crushing and trampling 



138 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

of branches, then a dull sound of the heavy beast 
striking against the unyielding trunks of the fallen 
trees. He was now fairly stopped, and with a 
shout my companions drove down upon him with 
their lances, which rang out a sharp metallic sound 
when they struck his thick, hard hide. It was an 
exciting moment, and, my eagerness overcoming 
my prudence, I slipped down the tree, and joined 
in the attack. Elow upon blow of the lances, and 
I could feel that mine struck deeply into the flesh, 
it seemed to me into the very vitals, of the animal. 
But the strokes only appeared to give him new 
strength, and, gathering back, he drove again full 
upon the opposing tree, bearing it down before 
him. I had just leaped upon the trunk, the better 
to aim my lance, and went down with it headlong, 
almost under the feet of the struggling animal, one 
tramp of whose feet would have crushed me like a 
worm. I could have touched him with my arm, 
he was so near ! I heard the alarmed shriek of 
Antonio when he saw me fall ; but, in an instant, 
he leaped to my side, and, shortening his lance, 
drove it, with desperate force, clean through the 
animal, bringing him to his knees. This done, he 
grappled me as he might an infant, and, before I 
was aware of it, had dragged me clear of the fallen 
timber. The blow of Antonio proved fatal; the 
tapir fell over on his side, and in a few moments 
was quite dead. 

The Poyer boy was dispatched to the camp for 
fire and pine splints, which, stuck in the ground 
around the tapir, answered for torches. By their 
light my companions proceeded to cut up the spoil, 
a tedious operation, which occupied them until 
daylight. I did not wait, but went back to my 



A HARD DEATH. 139 

nammock, leaving them to finish their work, un- 
disturbed by my questions. 

"When I awoke in the morning, I found Antonio 
had the tapir's head baking on the ground, from 
whence rose a hot but fragrant steam. It proved 
to be very good eating, as did also the feet and the 
neck, but the flesh of the animal in general was 
abominably coarse and insipid, although my com- 
panions seemed to relish it greatly. I found it, 
like that of the manitus, exceedingly laxative. 

Some idea may be formed of the tapir's tenacity 
of life when I say that I counted upwards of thirty 
lance-thrusts in the body of the one we killed, 
none of which were less than six inches deep, and 
nearly all penetrating into the cavity of the body ! 
It rarely happens, therefore, that the animal is 
tilled by the individual hunter. The hide is 
quite as thick, and I think harder than that of 
the manitus, which, when dried, it closely resem- 
bles. 

I should weary the reader were I to enter into 
all the details of our life at the " Tapir Camp/' as 
I called it, in honour of the exploit I have just re- 
counted. During the eight days which we spent 
there, I learned more of nature and her works than 
I had known before. I spent hours in watching 
the paths of the black ants, tracing them to their 
nests in the trees, which were dark masses, as 
large as a barrel, made up of fragments of leaves 
cemented together. From these paths, which were 
from four to six inches wide, all grass, leaves, 
sticks, and other obstructions had been removed, 
and along them poured an unbroken column of 
ants, thousands on thousands, those bound from 
the nest hurrying down one side of the path, and 



140 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

those bound in each carrying aloft a piece of green 
leaf, perhaps half an inch square — a mimic army 
with banners — hurrying up the other. I amused 
myself, sometimes, by putting obstructions across 
the path, and watching the surging up of the 
interrupted columns. Then could be seen fleet 
couriers hurrying off to the nest, and directly the 
path would be crowded with a heavy reinforce- 
ment, invariably headed by eight or ten ants of 
larger size, who appeared to be the engineers of 
the establishment. These would climb over and all 
around the obstruction, apparently calculating the 
chances of effecting its removal. If not too heavy, 
they disposed their regiments, and dragged it away 
by a grand simultaneous effort. But if, on exami- 
nation, they thought its removal impossible, they 
hurried to lay out a road around it, clearing away 
the grass, leaves, twigs, and pebbles with consum- 
mate skill, each column working towards the other. 
The best drilled troops could not go more systema- 
tically and intelligently to work, nor have executed 
their task with greater alacrity and energy. No 
sooner was it done than, putting themselves at the 
head of their workies, the engineers hastened back 
as they came, ready to obey the next requisition 
upon their strength and skill. 

Here I may mention that there is no end of 
ants under the tropics. They swarm everywhere, 
of unnumbered varieties — from little creatures, of 
microscppic proportions, to those of the size of our 
wasp. It is always necessary, when on land, to 
hang one's provisions by cords from the branches 
of trees, or they would literally be eaten up in a 
single night. There is one variety, called the hor- 
megas by the Spaniards, which has an insatiate 



ANTS AND BEES. 141 

appetite for leather, especially boots, and will eat 
them full of holes in a few hours. All the varieties 
of acacias teem with a small red, or " fire ant/' 
whose bite is like the prick of a red-hot needle. 
The unfortunate traveller who gets them in any 
considerable numbers on his person, is driven to 
distraction for the time being. It is difficult to 
imagine keener torment. 

Thousands of small, light-coloured bees gathered 
round the fallen trunks of the coyol-palms, to col- 
lect the honey-like liquid that exuded here and 
there, as the juice began to ferment. I soon ascer- 
tained that they were stingless,. and amused myself 
in watching their industrious zeal. I gradually 
came to observe that when each had gathered his 
supply he rose, by a succession of circuits, high in 
the air, and then darted off in a certain direction. 
Carefully watching their course, I finally traced 
them to a low, twisted tree, on the edge of the 
swamp, in the hollow of which they had their de- 
pository. Of course I regarded this as a fortunate 
discovery, and we were not slow to turn it to our 
advantage. I had less scruples in cutting down 
the tree, and turning the busy little dwellers out 
on the world, since they had no winter to provide 
for, and could easily take care of themselves. The 
supply of honey proved to be very small, and 
seemed to have been collected chiefly for the sup- 
port of the young bees. We obtained only four 
bottlesful from the tree. In taste it proved to be 
very unlike our northern honey, having a sharp, 
pungent, half-fermented flavour, causing, when 
eaten pure, a choking contraction of the muscles 
of the throat. Antonio mixed some of it with the 
" vino de coyol," which, after fermentation, pro- 



142 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

duced a very delicious, but strong and most in- 
toxicating kind of liqueur. 

On the afternoon of the eighth day, the moon 
having reached her last quarter, we packed our 
little boat, and, just as the night fell, worked our 
way slowly through the little, obstructed canal ta 
the lagoon, which now expanded to the north. We 
paddled boldly through the middle, the better to 
avoid observation from the shore. The night was 
dark, but wonderfully still, and I could hear dis- 
tinctly the sound of drums and revelry from the 
villages on the eastern shore, although they must 
have been fully three miles distant. 

I left " Tapir Camp" with real regret. The days 
had glided by tranquilly, and I had enjoyed a calm 
content, to which I had before been a stranger. 
For the first time, I was able to comprehend the 
feeling, gathering strength with every day, which 
induces men, sometimes the most brilliant and 
prosperous, to banish themselves from the world, 
and seek, in utter retirement, the peace which only 
flows from a direct converse with nature, and an 
earnest self-communion. 



PECULIARITIES OE COAST SCENEEY. 



14a 



CHAPTER IX. 




LONG the coast, from the Prinza- 
=^3pl£2^ pulka river northward, as I have 
said, stretches a network of rivers 
and lagoons, for a distance of at least one hundred 
and fifty miles, terminating near Cape Gracias. 
These lagoons are broad and shallow, and bordered 
by extensive marshes. Wherever the dry ground 
does appear, strange to say, it is generally as a 
sandy savannah, undulating and supporting few 
trees, except the red, or long-leaved pine. These 
savannahs are only adapted for grazing, since the 
soil is too light and poor for cultivation, arid fails 
to support any of the staple products, or any of the 



144 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

many esculent vegetables of the tropics, except the 
cassava. And although the few scattered inhabit- 
ants of the Mosquito Shore, above the Prinza- 
pulka, live upon the borders of the lagoons, select- 
ing generally the savannahs for their villages, it 
is because they are essentially fishers, and derive 
their principal support from the sea. The islands 
of the coast abound with turtle, and the rivers, 
creeks, and lagoons teem with fish of nearly every 
variety known under the tropics. The few vegeta- 
bles which they require are obtained from the 
banks of the rivers in the back country, where the 
streams flow through their proper valleys, and be- 
fore they are lost in the low grounds of the coast. 
The plantations on these rivers belong to the In- 
dians proper, whose numbers increase towards the 
interior, and who supply the Sambos, or coast-men, 
not only with vegetables, but also with the various 
kinds of boats which are used by them, receiving in 
exchange a few cottons, axes, trinkets, and other 
articles which are brought by the foreign traders. 
The character and habits of these Indians are 
widely different from those of the coast-men. The 
latter are drunken, idle, and vicious, while the 
former are mild, industrious, and temperate. The 
differences which I have indicated between the In- 
dian settlement on the Rio Grande and the Sambo 
village of Wasswatla, hold equally true throughout, 
except that the further the traveller proceeds north- 
wards from Bluefields, the more debased and brutal 
the Sambos become. 

In attempting to thread my way through the 
maze of waters before us, I kept the facts which I 
have recounted constantly in view, and sought 
rather to penetrate inland than diverge towards the 



LAGOON LIFE. 145 

coast. So, whenever two or more channels pre- 
sented themselves, I universally took the inside 
one. This frequently led us into the rivers flowing 
from the interior, but their current speedily en- 
abled us to correct these mistakes. 

No incident relieved the monotony of our first 
night, after leaving "Tapir Camp." Towards morn- 
ing we paddled into the first opening in the man- 
groves that held out promise of concealment. We 
had the usual difficulties to encounter — fallen trees 
and overhanging limbs ; but when the morning 
broke we had worked our way to a spot where the 
creek expanded into a kind of subordinate lagoon, 
very shallow, and full of sandy islets, partly covered 
with grass and water-plants. At one spot on the 
shore the ground was elevated a few feet, sup- 
porting a number of large and ancient trees, 
heavily draped with vines, under which we en- 
camped. 

After a very frugal meal, my hammock was sus- 
pended between the trees, and I went to sleep. 
About noon I awoke, and spent the rest of the day 
in watching the various forms of animal life which 
found support in these secluded wilds. It seemed 
to me as if all the aquatic birds of the world were 
congregated there, in harmonious conclave. Long- 
shanked herons, with their necks drawn in, and 
their yellow bills resting on their breasts, stood 
meditatively on a single leg; troops of the white and 
scarlet ibis trotted actively along the open sands ; 
and round-tailed darters, with their snaky necks 
and quick eyes, alighted in the trees around us — 
the only birds of all that assemblage which seemed 
to notice our intrusion ! Then there were cranes, 
and gaudy, awkward spoon-bills (clownish million. 

L 



146 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

aires !), and occasionally a little squadron of blue- 
winged teal paddled gracefully by. 

Overhead a few noisy macaws sheltered them- 
selves from the noon-day heats. Among these, I 
saw, for the first time, the green variety, a more 
modest, and, to my taste, a far more beautiful bird 
than his gaudier cousin. The large trees to which 
I have alluded, were of the variety known as the 
ceiba, or silk-cotton tree. They were now in their 
bloom, and crowned with a profusion of flowers of 
rich and variegated colours, but chiefly a bright car- 
nation. It was a novel spectacle to see a gigantic 
tree, five or six feet in diameter, and eighty or 
ninety feet high, sending out long and massive 
limbs, yet bearing flowers like a rose-bush — a sort 
of man-milliner ! Viewed from beneath, the flow- 
ers were scarcely visible, but their fragrance was 
overpowering, and the ground was carpeted with 
their gay leaves and delicate petals. But seen 
from a little distance, the ceiba-tree in bloom, is one 
of the most splendid productions of Nature — a gi- 
gantic bouquet, which requires a whole forest to 
supply the contrasting green ! The flowers are ra- 
pidly succeeded by a multitude of pods, which grow 
to the size and shape of a goose-egg. When ripe, 
they burst open, revealing the interior filled with a 
very soft, light cotton or silky fibre, attached as floats 
to diminutive seeds, which are thus wafted far and 
wide by the winds. This process is repeated three 
times a year. I am not aware that the cotton has 
ever 'been manufactured, or applied to any more 
useful purpose than that of stuffing pillows and 
mattresses. 

The trunk of the ceiba, however, is invaluable to 
the natives. The wood is easily worked, and is 



CEIBA THEE AND "RAIN-PLANT. 147 

moreover light and buoyant, and not liable to split 
by exposure to the sun. For these reasons it is 
principally used for dories, pitpans, and the differ- 
ent varieties of boats required on the coast, al- 
though, for the smaller canoes, the cedar and ma- 
hogany are sometimes substituted. The mahogany 
boats, however, are rather heavy, while the cedar is 
liable to split in what is called " beaching." I have 
seen dories hollowed from a single trunk of the 
ceiba, in which a tall man might comfortably lie at 
length across the bottom, and which were capable 
of carrying fifty persons. 

But the ceibas of our encampment supported, 
besides their own verdure, a mass of lianes or 
climbers, of many varieties, as also numerous para- 
sitic plants and among them the wild pine or rain- 
plant, which served us a most useful purpose. Seve- 
ral of these grew in the principal forks of the trees, 
to the height of from four to six feet. Their leaves 
are broad, and wrap round on themselves, like a 
roll, forming reservoirs, in which the rain and dew 
are collected and retained, safe from sun and wind. 
Each leaf will hold about a quart of water, which 
looks clear and tempting in its green, translucent 
goblet. Had it not been for the rain-plant, we 
would have suffered very often from thirst, among 
those brackish lagoons, where fresh water is ob- 
tained with difficulty. . 

With the night, we resumed our stealthy course 
to the northward, guided by the familiar north star, 
which here, however, circles so low in the horizon 
as hardly to be visible above the trees. The long 
and narrow lagoon contracted more and more, until 
it presented a single channel, perhaps a hundred 
yards wide, closely lined with mangroves, which, 



148 THE MOSqUITO SHORE. 

rising like a wall on both sides, prevented us from 
making out the character of the back country. In 
passing through some of the numerous bends, I 
nevertheless caught star-light glimpses of distant 
hills, and high grounds in the direction of the in- 
terior. The channel soon began to trend to the 
north-east, and there was a considerable current in 
that direction. I was concerned lest, notwithstand- 
ing all my caution, I had lost the clue to the la- 
goons, and taken some one of the outlets into the 
sea. We nevertheless kept on steadily and rapidly, 
discovering no signs of habitations on the banks, 
until near morning, when my suspicions were con- 
firmed by a monotonous sound, which I had no dif- 
ficulty in recognising as the beating of the sea. I 
was therefore greatly relieved when the narrow 
channel, which we were traversing, expanded sud- 
denly into a beautiful lagoon which I subsequently 
ascertained was called " Tongla Lagoon.*' It is 
triangular in shape, extending off to the north- 
west. 

I was weary of dodging the Sambos, and deter- 
mined, as the wind was blowing fresh, to put up 
our sail, and, standing boldly through the lagoon, 
take. the risk of recognition and pursuit. There 
never was a brighter day on earth, and our little 
boat seemed emulous to outstrip the wind. Gather- 
ing confidence from our speed, I got out my fish- 
ing line, and, attaching a bit of cotton cloth to the 
hook, trailed it after the boat. It had hardly 
touched the water before it was caught by a kind 
of rock-fish, called snapper by the English resi- 
dents, and coivatucker by the Mosquitoes. It is only 
from ten to twelve inches in length, but broad and 
heavy. Antonio recognised it as one of the best of 



TONGLA LAGOON. 149 

the small fishes, and I continued the sport of 
catching them, until it would have been wanton 
waste to have taken more. I found them to be of 
two varieties, the red and black, of which the latter 
proved to be the most delicate. I also caught two 
fish of a larger kind, called baraconta, each about 
twenty inches in length, resembling our blue-fish. 
It is equally ravenous, and has a like firm and pala- 
table flesh. I am not sure that it is not the true 
blue-fish, although I afterwards caught some in 
the Bay of Honduras which were between three 
and four feet in length. 

In order to get the full benefit of the land-breeze, 
we kept well over to the seaward or eastern side of 
the lagoon. As the lagoon narrowed, our course 
gradually brought us close in shore. I had ob- 
served some palm-trees on the same side of the 
lagoon, but the ground seemed so low, and tangled 
with verdure, that I doubted if the trees indicated, 
as they usually do, a village at their feet. I never- 
theless maintained a sharp look-out, and kept the 
boat as near to the wind as possible, so as to slip 
by without observation. It was not until we were 
abreast of the palms, that I saw signs of human 
habitations. But then I made out a large number 
of canoes drawn up in a little bay, and, through a 
narrow vista in the trees, saw distinctly a consider- 
able collection of huts. There were also several 
of the inhabitants moving about among the 
canoes. 

I observed also that our boat had attracted at- 
tention, and that a number of men were hurrying 
down to the shore. I was in hopes that they would 
be content with regarding us from a distance, and 
was not a little annoyed when I saw two large 



150 THE MOSQTJJTO SHORE. 

boats push from the landing. We did not stop to 
speculate upon their purposes, but shook out every 
thread of our little sail, and, each taking a paddle, 
we fell to work with a determination of giving our 
pursuers as pretty a chase as ever came off on the 
Mosquito Shore. It was now three o'clock in the 
afternoon, and I felt confident that we could not 
be overtaken, if at all, before night, and then it 
would be comparatively easy to elude them. 

Our pursuers had no sails, but their boats were 
larger, and numerously manned by men more 
used to the paddle than either Antonio or myself. 
While the wind lasted, we rather increased our 
distance, but as the sun went down the breeze de- 
clined, and our sail became useless. So we were 
obliged to take it in, and trust to our paddles 
alone. This gave our pursuers new courage, and 
I could hear their shouts echoed back from the 
shores. When night fell they had shortened their 
distance to less than half what it had been at the 
outset, and were so near that we could almost 
make out their words ; for, during quiet nights, on 
these lagoons, voices can be distinguished at the 
distance of a mile. The lagoon narrowed more 
and more, and was evidently getting to be as con- 
tracted as the channel by which we had entered. 
This was against us ; for, although we had almost 
lost sight of our pursuers in the gathering dark- 
ness, our safety depended entirely upon our slip- 
ping, unobserved, into some narrow creek. But 
we strained our eyes in vain to discover such a re- 
treat. The mangroves presented one dark, un- 
broken front. 

The conviction was now forced upon me that, in 
v spite of all our efforts to avoid it, we were to be in- 



THE CHASE. 151 

volved in a second fight. I laid aside my paddle, 
and got out my gun. And now I experienced 
asrain the same asnie-like sensations which I have 
described as preceding our struggle on the Prinza- 
pulka. It required the utmost effort to keep my 
teeth from chattering audibly. I had a singular 
and painful sensation of fulness about the heart. 
So decided were all these phenomena, that, not- 
withstanding our danger, I felt glad it was so dark 
that my companions could not see my weakness. 
But soon the veins in my temples began to swell 
with blood, pulsating with tense sharpness, like 
the vibration of a bow-string ; and then the mus- 
cles became rigid, and firm as iron. I was ready 
for blood ! Twice only have I experienced these 
terrible sensations, and God grant that they may 
never agonise my nerves again ! 

Our enemies were now so near that I was on 
the point of venturing a random long shot at them, 
when, with a suppressed exclamation of jdy, Anto- 
nio suddenly turned our canoe into a narrow creek, 
where the mangroves separated, like walls, on 
either side. Where we entered, it was scarcely 
twenty feet wide, and soon contracted to ten or 
twelve. We glided in rapidly for perhaps two hun- 
dred yards, when Antonio stopped to listen. I 
heard nothing, and gave the word to proceed. But 
the crafty Indian said " No ;" and carefully lean- 
ing over the edge of the boat, plunged his head in 
the water. He held it there a few seconds, then 
started up, exclaiming, " They are coming ! " 
Again we bent to the paddles, and drove the boat 
up the narrow creek with incredible velocity. 

I was so eager to get a shot at our pursuers 
that I scarcely comprehended what he meant, 



152 the MOSQiriro sho&e. 

when, stopping suddenly,, Antonio pressed his pad- 
dle in my hands, and, exchanging a few hurried 
words with the Poyer boy, each took a machete in 
his mouth, and leaped overboard. I felt a sudden 
suspicion that they had deserted me, and remained 
for the time motionless. A moment after, they 
called to me from the shore, " Paddle ! paddle j" 
and, at the same instant, I heard the blows of their 
machetes ringing on the trunks of the mangroves. 
I at once comprehended that they were felling 
trees across the narrow creek, to obstruct the pur- 
suit ; and I threw aside the paddle, and took my 
gun again, determined to protect my devoted 
friends, at any hazard. I never forgave myself 
for my momentary but ungenerous distrust ! 

Our pursuers heard the sound of the blows, and, 
no doubt comprehending what was going on, raised 
loud shouts, and redoubled their speed. Kling ! 
Ming ! rang the machetes on the hard wood ! Oh, 
how I longed to hear the crash of the falling trees ! 
Soon one of them began to crackle — another blow, 
and down it fell, the trunk splashing gloriously in 
the water ! Another crackle, a rapid rustling of 
branches, and another plash in the water ! It was 
our turn to shout now ! 

I gave Antonio and the Poyer boy each a hearty 
embrace, as, dripping with water, they clambered 
back into our little boat. We now pushed a few 
yards up the stream, stopped close to the slimy 
bank, and awaited our pursuers. " Come on, now/* 
I shouted, ' f and not one of you shall pass that 
rude barrier alive \" 

The first boat ran boldly up to the fallen trees, 
but the discharge of a single barrel of my gun sent 
it back, precipitately, out of reach. We could dis- 



FINAL ESCAPE. 153 

tinguish a hurried conversation between the occu- 
pants of the first boat and of the second, when the 
latter came up. It did not last long, and when it 
stopped, Antonio, in a manner evincing more 
alarm than he had ever before exhibited, caught me 
by the arm, and explained hurriedly that the second 
boat was going back, and that the narrow creek, 
in which we were, no doubt communicated with 
the principal channel by a second mouth. While 
one boat was thus blockading us in front, the second 
was hastening to assail us in the rear ! I compre- 
hended the movement at once. Our deliberation 
was short, for our lives might depend upon an im- 
provement of the minutes. Stealthily, scarce dar- 
ing to breathe, yet with the utmost rapidity possi- 
ble, we pushed up the creek. As Antonio had 
conjectured, it soon began to curve back towards 
the estuary. We had pursued our course perhaps 
ten or fifteen minutes — they seemed hours ! — when 
we overheard the approach of the second boat. 
We at once drew ours close to the bank, in the 
gloomiest covert we could find. On came the boat, 
the paddlers, secure of the success of their device, 
straining themselves to the utmost. There was a 
moment of keen suspense, and, to our inexpressi- 
ble relief, the boat passed by us. We now re- 
sumed our paddles, and hastened on our course. 
But before we entered the principal channel, my 
companions clambered into the overhanging man- 
groves, and in an incredibly short space of time 
had felled other trees across the creek, so as com- 
pletely to shut in the boat which had attempted to 
surprise us. 

The device was successful; we soon emerged 
from the creek, and the sea-breeze having now set 



154 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

in, favourably to our course, we were able to put 
up our sail, and defy pursuit. We saw nothing 
afterwards of our eager friends of Tongla Lagoon ! 

Some time past midnight we came to another 
and larger lagoon, called "Wava Lagoon," and, 
w r eary and exhausted from nearly two days of 
wakefulness, hard labour, and excitement, we ran 
our boat ashore on a little island which presented 
itself, and dragged it up into the bushes. We 
kindled a fire, cooked our fish, and then I lay 
down in the canoe, and went to sleep. I had en- 
tire confidence that we would not be pursued 
farther, as we were now a long way from the coast, 
and in the country of the unmixed Indians, who, 
so far from recognising the assumptions of the 
Sambos, hold an attitude so decidedly hostile 
towards them, that the latter seldom venture into 
their territory. 

I awoke near noon, but unrefreshed, with a dull 
pain in my head, a sensation of chilliness, great 
lassitude, and an entire absence of appetite. Had 
our encampment been mo^e favourable, I should 
not have attempted to move; but the island was 
small, without water, and, moreover, too near the 
channel leading to Tongla Lagoon to be a desirable 
resting-place. So we embarked about mid-day, 
and stood across the lagoon for its western shore, 
where the ground appeared to rise rapidly, and 
high blue mountains appeared in the distance. 
The sun shone out clearly, and the day was sultry, 
but rtiy chilliness increased momentarily, and, in 
less than an hour after leaving the island, I found 
myself lying in the bottom of the canoe, wrapped 
in my blanket, and for the first time in my life 
suffering from the ague. The attack lasted for 



EEVEE CAMP. 155 

full two hours, and was followed by a bursting 
pain in my bead, and a high fever. I had also 
dull pains in my back and limbs, which were 
more difficult to be borne than others more acute. 

At four o' clock in the afternoon, Antonio put 
the boat in shore — for I was too ill to give direc- 
tions — where a bluff point ran out into the lagoon, 
forming a small bay, with a smooth, sandy beach. 
A little savannah, similar to that which I have de- 
scribed at Tapir Camp, extended back from the 
bluff, near the centre of which, at its highest point, 
which commanded a beautiful view of the lagoon, 
rose a single clump of pines. Here my companions 
carried me in my hammock, and here they hastily 
arranged our camp. 

When the sun went down, my fever subsided, 
but was followed by a profuse and most debilitating 
sweat. Meantime Antonio had collected a few 
nuts, of a kind which, I afterwards ascertained, is 
called by the English of the West Indies physic- 
nut (jatropha), which grows on a low bush, on all 
parts of the coast. These he rapidly prepared, and 
administered them to me. They operated power- 
fully, both as an emetic and cathartic. When their 
effects had ceased, I fell asleep, and slept until 
morning, when I awoke weak, but free from pain 
or any other symptom of illness, I congratulated 
myself and Antonio, but he damped my spirits 
sensibly by explaining that, however well I might 
feel for that day, I would be pretty sure to have 
a recurrence of fever on the next And to mitigate 
the severity of this, if not entirely to prevent it, he 
presented to me a calabash of reddish-looking 
liquid, which he called cinchona, and told me to 
drink deeply. Heavens ! I shall never forget the 



156 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

bitter draught, which he commended to my unwil- 
ling lips every two hours during that black day in 
my calendar ! I know what it is now, for my 
Mosquito experiences have entailed upon me a 
sneaking fever and ague, which avails itself of 
every pretext to remind me that we are inseparable. 
Looking to my extensive consumption of quinine, 
I have marvelled, since my return, that the price 
of the drug has not been doubled ! Others may 
look at the stock quotations, but my principal in- 
terest in the commercial department of the morn- 
ing paper, is the " ruling rate" of quinine ! Not 
having, as yet, discovered any considerable ad- 
vance, I begin to doubt the dogma of the econo- 
mists, that " the price is regulated by the demand. 5 * 

Antonio was right. The next day came, and at 
precisely twelve o' clock came also the chill, the 
fever, the dull pains, and the perspiration, but all 
in a more subdued form. I escaped the physic- 
nuts, but the third day brought a new supply of 
the bitter liquid, which Antonio told me was de- 
cocted from bark taken from the roots of a species 
of mangrove-tree. I have never seen it mentioned 
that the cinchona is found in Central America, but, 
nevertheless, it is there, or something so nearly 
like it, in taste and effects, as to be undistinguish- 
able. Thin slips of the bark, put into a bottle of 
rum, made a sort of cordial or bitters, of which I 
took about a wine-glassful every morning and 
evening, during the remainder of my stay on the 
coast, with beneficial results. 

I had three recurrences of the fever, but the sun 
passed the meridian on the sixth day without 
bringing with it an attack — thanks to the rude but 
effective "healing art" of my Indian companions. 



PRIMITIVE PHYSIC. 157 

Experience had taught them about all, I think, 
that has ever been learned in the way of treat- 
ment of indigenous complaints. It is only exotic 
diseases, or sweeping epidemics, that carry death 
and desolation among the aborigines, whose igno- 
rance of their nature and remedies invests them 
with a terror which enhances the mortality. Not 
only was the treatment to which I was subjected 
thoroughly correct, but the dieting was perfect. 
The only food that was given to me consisted of 
the seeds of the okra (which is indigenous on the 
coast), flavoured by being boiled with the legs and 
wings of quails, and small bits of dried manitee 
flesh. I only outraged the notions of my rude 
physicians in one respect, viz., in insisting on 
being allowed to wash myself. The Indians seem 
to think that the effect of water on the body, or 
any part of it, during the period of a fever, is little 
less than mortal — a singular notion, which may 
have some foundation v in experience, if not in 
reason. The Spaniards,' wisely or foolishly, enter- 
tain the same prejudice; and, furthermore, shut 
themselves up closely in dark rooms when attacked 
by fever. At such times they scarcely commend 
themselves pleasantly to any of the senses. 

From the open, airy elevation where our camp 
was established, as I have already said, we had an 
extensive and beautiful view of the lagoon. We 
saw canoes, at various times, skirting the western 
shore, and from the smoke which rose at intervals, 
we were satisfied that there were there several In- 
dian villages. As soon, therefore, as I thought 
myself recovered from my fever, which was pre- 
cisely at one o'clock past meridian, on the sixth 
day (the fever due at noon not having u come to 



158 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

time"), I was ready to proceed to the Indian 
towns. But our departure was delayed for two 
days more' by an unfortunate occurrence, which 
came near depriving the Poyer boy of his life, and 
me of a valuable assistant ; for, while Antonio was 
supreme on land, the Poyer boy was the leader on 
the water. I always called him — Mosquito fashion 
— " admiral." 

It seems that, while engaged in gathering dry 
wood, he took hold of a fallen branch, under which 
was coiled a venomous snake, known as the tama- 
gasa (called by the English tommy-goff, and the 
Mosquitoes piuta-sura, or the poison snake) . He 
had scarcely put down his hand when it struck 
him in the arm. He killed it, grasped it by the 
tail, and hurried to our camp. I was much 
alarmed, for his agitation was extreme, and his 
face and whole body of an ashy colour. Antonio 
was not at hand, and I was at an utter loss what to 
do, beyond tying a ligature tightly round the arm. 

The Poyer, however, retained his presence of 
mind, and, unrolling a mysterious little bundle, 
which contained his scanty wardrobe, took out a 
nut of about the size and much the appearance of 
a horse- chesnut, which he hastily crushed, and, 
mixing it with water, drank it down. By this 
time Antonio had returned, and, learning the state 
of the case, seized his machete, and hastened away 
to the low grounds on the edge of the savannah, 
whence he came back, in the course of half an 
hour, with a quantity of some kind of root, of 
which I have forgotten the Indian name. It had 
a strong smell of musk, impossible to distinguish 
from that of the genuine civet. This he crushed, 
and formed into a kind of poultice, bound it on 



ABOUT SNAKES. 159 

the wounded arm, and gave the boy to drink a 
strong infusion of the same. This done, he led 
him down to the beach, dug a hole in the moist 
sand, in which he buried his arm to the shoulder, 
pressing the sand closely around it. I thought 
this an emphatic kind of treatment, which might 
be good for Indians, but which would be pretty 
sure to kill white men. The boy remained with 
his arm buried during the entire night, but, next 
morning, barring being a little pale and weak from 
the effects of these powerful remedies, he was as 
well as ever, and resumed his usual occupations. 
A light blue scratch alone indicated the place where 
he had been bitten. 

The tamagasa (a specimen of which I subse- 
quently obtained, and which now occupies a dis- 
tinguished place among the reptiles in the Phila- 
delphia Academy) is about two feet long. It is 
of the thickness of a man's thumb, with a large, 
flat head, and a lump in the neck something like 
that of the cobra, and is marked with alternate 
black and dusky white rings. It is reputed one of 
the most venomous serpents under the tropics, 
ranking next to the beautiful, but deadly corral. 



160 



THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 



CHAPTER X. 




ROM our misfortunes, I named 
our encampment on Wava La- 
goon, " Fever Camp," although, 
1 so far from contracting the fever 
there, I am sure it was its open and elevated posi- 
tion which contributed to my recovery. The fever 
was rather due to over exertion, and exposure at 
night ;, for the night-clamps, on all low coasts under 
the tropics, are unquestionably deadly, and the 
traveller cannot be too careful in avoiding them. 
Early in the afternoon of the day of our departure 
from " Fever Camp," we entered a large stream, 
flowing into the lagoon from the north-west, upon 



TOWKAS TILLAGE. 161 

the banks of which, judging from the direction of 
the smoke we had seen, the Indian villages were 
situated. We were not mistaken. Before night 
we came to a village larger than that on the Rio 
Grande, but in other respects much the same, ex- 
cept that it stood upon the edge of an extensive 
savannah, instead of on the skirt of an impenetra- 
ble forest. Around it were extensive plantations 
of cassava, and other fruits and vegetables, grow- 
ing in the greatest luxuriance, and indicating that 
the soil of the inland savannahs does not share the 
aridity of those nearer the coast. This was fur- 
ther evinced by the scarcity of pines, which were only 
to be seen on the ridges or gentle elevations with 
which the surface of the savannah was diversified. 

Our appearance here created the same excite- 
ment which it had occasioned at the other places we 
had visited, and our reception was much the same 
as that which we had experienced on the Rio 
Grande. Instead, however, of being met by men 
with wands, we were welcomed by five old men, one 
of whom vacated his own hut for our accommoda- 
tion. None here could speak either English or 
Spanish intelligibly, but the affinity between their 
language and that of my Poyer enabled him to 
make known our wants, and obtain all useful infor- 
mation. We were treated hospitably, but with the 
utmost reserve, and during my whole stay but a 
single incident relieved the monotony of the vil- 
lage. This was a marriage — and a very ceremo- 
nious affair it was. 

These Indians, I should explain, are called Tow- 
kas, or Toacas, and have, I presume, all the general 
characteristics and habits of the Cookras and Wool- 
was. These do, in fact, constitute a single family, 

M 



162 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

although, displaying dialectical differences in their 
language. 

Among all these Indians, polygamy is an excep- 
tion, while among the Sambos it is the rule. The 
instances are few in which a man has more than one 
wife, and in these cases the eldest is not only the 
head of the family, but exercises a strict supervision 
over the others. The betrothals are made at a very 
early age, by the parents, and the affianced children 
are marked in a corresponding manner, so that one 
acquainted with the practice can always point out 
the various mates. These marks consist of little 
bands of coloured cotton, worn either on the arm, 
above the elbow, or on the leg, below the knee, 
which are varied in colour and number, so that no 
two combinations in the village shall be the same. 
The combinations are made bv the old men, who 
take care that there shall be no confusion. The 
bands are replaced from time to time, as they be- 
come worn and faded. Both boys and girls also 
wear a necklace of variously- coloured shells or beads, 
to which one is added yearly. When the necklace 
of the boy counts ten beads or shells, he is called 
muliasal, a word signifying three things, viz., ten, 
all the fingers, and half-a-man. When they number 
twenty, he is called 'all, a word which also signifies 
three things, viz., twenty, both fingers and toes, 
and a man. And he is then effectively regarded as 
a man. Should his affianced, by that time, have 
reached the age of fifteen, the marriage ceremony 
takes place without delay. 

As I have said, a sleek young Towka was called 
upon to add the final bead to his string, and take 
upon himself the obligations of manhood, during 
my stay at the village. The event had been an- 



A TOWKA MAK.KIAGE. 163 

ticipated by the preparation of a canoe full of 
palm- wine, mixed with crushed plantains, and a 
little honey, which had been fermenting, to the 
utter disgust of my nostrils, from the date of my 
arrival. The day was observed as a general holiday. 
Early in the morning all the men of the village 
assembled, and with their knives carefully removed 
every blade of grass which had grown up inside cf 
a circle, perhaps a hundred feet in diameter, situ- 
ated in the very centre of the village, and indicated 
by a succession of stones sunk in the ground. The 
earth was then trampled smooth and hard, after 
which they proceeded to erect a little hut in the 
very centre of the circular area, above a large flat 
stone which was permanently planted there. This 
hut was made conical, and perfectly close, except 
an opening in the top, and another at one side, 
towards the east, which was temporarily closed with 
a mat, woven of palm-bark. I looked in without 
hindrance, and saw, piled up on the stone, a quan- 
tity of the dry twigs of the copal-tree, covered with 
the gum of the same. The canoe full of liquor was 
dragged up to the edge of the circle, and literally 
covered with small white calabashes, of the size of 
an ordinary coffee-cup. 

At noon, precisely, all the people of the village 
hurried, without order, to the hut of the bride- 
groom's father. I joined in the crowd. We found 
the " happy swain" arrayed in his best, sitting de- 
murely upon a bundle of articles, closely wrapped 
in a mat. The old men, to whom I have referred, 
formed in a line in front of him, and the eldest 
made him a short address. When he had finished, 
the next followed, until each had had his say. 
The youth then got up quietly, shouldered his 



164 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

bundle, and, preceded by the old men, and fol- 
lowed by his father, marched off to the hut of 
the prospective bride. He put down his load 
before the closed door, and seated himself upon it 
in silence. The father then rapped at the door, 
which was partly opened by an old woman, who 
asked him what he wanted, to which he made some 
reply which did not appear to be satisfactory, when 
the door was shut in his face, and he took his seat 
beside his son. One of the old men then rapped, 
with precisely the same result, then the next, and 
so on. But the old women were obdurate. The 
bridegroom's father tried it again, but the she- 
dragons would not open the door. The old men 
then seemed to hold a council, at the end of which 
a couple of drums (made, as I have already ex- 
plained, by stretching a raw skin over a section of 
a hollow tree), and some rude flutes were sent for. 
The latter were made of pieces of bamboo, and were 
shaped somewhat like flageolets, each having a 
mouth-piece, and four stops. The sound was dull 
and monotonous, although not wholly unmusical. 
Certain musicians now appeared, and at once 
commenced playing on these instruments, break- 
ing out, at long intervals, in a kind of supplicatory 
chant. After an hour or more of this soothing and 
rather sleepy kind of music, the inexorable door 
opened a little, and one of the female inmates 
glanced out with much affected timidity. Here- 
upon the musicians redoubled their efforts, and the 
bridegroom hastened to unroll his bundle. It con- 
tained a variety of articles supposed to be accept- 
able to the parents of the girl. There was, among 
other things, a machete, no inconsiderable present, 
when it is understood that the cost of one is gene- 



PRESENTS PEOPITIATOEY. 165 

rally a large dory, which it requires months of toil 
to fashion from the rough trunk of the gigantic 
ceiba. A string of gay glass beads was also pro- 
duced from the bundle. All these articles were 
handed in to the women one by one, by the father 
of the groom. With eyery present the door opened 
wider and wider, until the mat was presented, when 
it was turned back to its utmost, reyealing the 
bride arrayed in her " prettiest/' seated on a cric- 
kery, at the remotest comer of the hut. The 
dragons affected to be absorbed in examining the 
presents, when the bridegroom, watching his op- 
portunity, dashed into the hut, to the apparent 
utter horror and dismay of the women ; and, grasp- 
ing the girl by the waist, shouldered her like a 
sack, and started off at a trot for the mystic circle, 
in the centre of the yillage. The women pursued, 
as if to oyertake him and rescue the girl, uttering 
cries for help, while all the crowd huddled after. 
But the youth was too fast for them ; he reached 
the ring, and lifting the yeil of the hut, disappeared 
within it. The women could not pass the circle, 
and all stopped short at its edge, and set up a 
chorus of despairing shrieks, while the men all 
gathered within the charmed ring, where they 
squatted themselyes, row on row, facing outward. 
The old men alone remained standing, and a bit of 
lighted pine haying meanwhile been brought, one 
of them approached the hut, lifted the mat, and, 
handing in the fire, made a brief speech to the in- 
mates. A few seconds after an aromatic smoke 
curled up from the opening in the top of the little 
hut^ from which I infer that the copal had been 
set on fire. What else happened, I am sure I do 
not know ! 



166 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

When tliey saw tlie smoke, the old women grew 
silent and expectant ; but, by-and-by, when it sub- 
sided, they' became suddenly gay, and ci went in 
strong" for the festivities, which, up to this time, I 
must confess, I had thought rather slow. But here 
I may explain, that although the bridegroom has 
no choice in the selection of his wife, yet* if he 
have reason for doing so, he may, while the copal 
is burning, take her in his arms, and cast her out- 
side of the circle, in the open day, before the en- 
tire people, and thus rid himself of her for ever. 
But in this case, the matter is carefully investi- 
gated by the old men, and woe betide the wretch, 
who, by this public act, has impeached a girl 
wrongfully ! Woe equally betide the girl who is 
proved to have been " put away' ; for good reasons. 
If, however, the copal burns out quietly, the groom 
is supposed to be satisfied, and the marriage is 
complete. 

The copal, in this instance, burned out in the 
most satisfactory manner, and then the drums and 
flutes struck up a most energetic air, the music of 
which consisted of about eight notes, repeated with 
different degrees of rapidity, by way of giving 
variety to the melody. The men all kept their 
places, while I was installed in a seat of honour 
beside the old men. The women, who, as I have 
said, could not come within the circle, now com- 
menced filling the calabashes from the canoe, and 
passing them to the squatting men, commencing 
with the' ancients and the " distinguished guests'? 
— for Antonio and my Poyer were included in our 
party. There was nothing said, but the women 
displayed the greatest activity in filling the emp- 
tied calabashes. I soon discovered that evervbodv 



THE "BIG HRTJNK." 167 

was deliberately and in cold blood getting up 
what Captain Drummer called the " big drunk \" 
That was part of the performance of the day, and 
the Indians went at it in the most orderly and ex- 
peditious manner. They wasted no time in coyish 
preliminaries — a practice which might be followed 
in more civilized countries, to the great economy, 
not only of time, but of the vinous. It was not 
from the love of the drink that the Towkas im- 
bibed, I can well believe, for their cliicha was bad 
to look at, and worse to taste. 

With the fourth round of the calabashes, an oc- 
casional shout betrayed the effects of the chicha 
upon some of the weaker heads. These shouts be- 
came more and more frequent, and were sometimes 
uttered with a savage emphasis, which was rather 
startling. The musicians, too, became more ener- 
getic, and as the sun declined, the excitement rose, 
until, unable to keep quiet any longer, all hands 
got up, and joined in a slow, swinging step around 
the circle, beating with their knuckles on the 
empty calabashes, and joining at intervals in a 
kind of refrain, at the end of which every man 
struck the bottom of his calabash against that of 
his neighbour. Then, as they came round by the 
canoe, each one dipped his calabash full of the 
contents. The liquid thus taken up was drunk at 
a single draught, and then the dance went on, 
growing more rapid with every dip of the calabash. 
It got to the stage of a trot, and then a fast pace, 
and finally into something little short of a gallop, 
but still in perfect time. The rattling of the cala- 
bashes had now grown so rapid, as almost to be 
continuous, and the motion so involved and quick, 
that, as I watched it, I felt that kind of giddiness 



168 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

which one often experiences in watching the glid- 
ing of a swift current of water. This movement 
could not be kept up long, even with the aid of 
chicha, and whenever a dancer became exhausted, 
he would wheel out of line, and throw himself flat 
on his face on the ground. Finally,, every one 
gave in, except two young fellows, who seemed de- 
termined to do, in their way, what other fast young 
men, in other countries, sometimes undertake to 
accomplish, viz. : drink each other down, or " under 
the table/' They danced and drunk, and were ap- 
plauded by the women, but were so closely matched 
that it was impossible to tell .which had the best 
chance of keeping it up longest. In fact, each 
seemed to despair of the other, and, as if by a 
common impulse, both threw aside their calabashes, 
and resolved the contest from a trial of endurance 
into one of strength, leaping at each other's throats, 
and fastening their teeth like tigers in each other's 
flesh. 

There was instantly a great uproar, and those 
of the men who had the ability to stand, clustered 
around the combatants in a confused mass, shout- 
ing at the stretch of their lungs, and evidently, as 
I thought, regarding it as a " free fight." But there 
was little damage done, for the old men, though 
emphatically "tight/' had discretion enough to 
send the women for thongs, with which the pug- 
nacious youths were incontinently bound hand 
and foot, and dragged close to the hut in the cen- 
tre, and there left to cool themselves off as they 
were best able, no one taking the slightest notice 
of them. " Verily," I ejaculated to myself, " wis- 
dom knoweth no country." 

The dance which I have described was resumed 



A SWEET SAVANNAH. 169 

from time to time, until it became quite dark, 
when the women brought a large number of pine 
splinters, of which the men each took one. These 
weje lighted, and then the dancers paced up to the 
little hut, and each tore off one of the branches of 
which it was built, finally disclosing the newly- 
married couple sitting demurely side by side. As 
soon as the hut was demolished, the groom quietly 
took his bride on his back — literally u shouldering 
the responsibility !" — and marched off to the hut 
which had previously been built for his accommo- 
dation, escorted by the procession of men with 
torches. This was the final ceremony of the night, 
although some of the more dissipated youths re- 
turned to the canoe, and kept up a drumming, and 
piping, and dancing, until morning. Next day 
everybody brought presents of some kind to the 
newly-married pair, so as to give them a fair start 
in the world, and enable them to commence life 
on equal terms with the best in the village. 

It would be difficult to find on earth any thing 
more beautiful than the savannah which spread out, 
almost as far as the eye could reach, behind the 
Towkas village. Along the river's bank rose a 
tangled wall of verdure ; giant ceibas, feathery 
palms, and the snake-like trunks of the matapalo, 
all bound together, and draped over with cable- 
like lianes (the tie-tie of the English), and the 
tenacious tendrils of myriads of creeping and 
flowering plants. Unlike the wearying, monoto- 
nous prairies of the West, the savannah was 
relieved by clumps of acacias — among them the 
delicate-leaved gum-arabic — palmettos, and dark 
groups of pines, arranged with such harmonious 
disorder, and admirable picturesque effect, that I 



170 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

could scarcely believe the hand of art had not lent 
its aid to heighten the efforts of nature in her hap- 
piest mood. 

Finding retreats in the dense coverts of the 
jungles on the river's bank, or among the cluster- 
ing groups of bushes and trees, the antelope and 
deer, the Indian rabbit and gibeonite, wandered 
securely over the savannah, nipping the young 
grass, or chasing each other in mimic alarm. 
Here, too, might be observed the crested curassow, 
with his stately step, the plumptitudinous qualm, 
and the crazy chachalea (coquericot) , besides innu- 
merable quails — all fitting food for omnivorous 
man, but so seldom disturbed as not to recognise 
him as their most dangerous enemy. Then night 
and morning the air was filled with deafening 
parrots, noisy macaws^ and quick- darting, chatter- 
ing paroquets. 

I rose early every day, and with my gun in my 
hand, strayed far over the savannah, inhaling the 
freshness of the morning air, and shooting such 
game as looked fat, tender, and otherwise accept- 
able to my now fastidious appetite. The curassow 
(called cos.su by the Mosquitos) is one of the finest 
birds in the world. It is about the size of the 
turkey, but has stronger and longer legs. The 
plumage is dark brown or black, ash- coloured 
about the neck, and of a reddish brown on the 
breast. On its head it has a crest of white feathers 
tipped with black, which it raises and depresses at 
pleasure. The flesh is whiter than that of a tur- 
key, but rather dry, requiring a different mode of 
cooking than is practised in the woods, to bring 
out its qualities in perfection. It is easily tamed, 
as are also the qualm and chachalaca. The latter, 



EPISODE EPICUREAN. 171 

when old, is tough, but when young its flesh cannot 
be surpassed for delicacy and flavour. 

The animal called the Indian rabbit is very nu- 
merous, and is a variety of what in South America 
is called the agouti. It is about the size of a rab- 
bit : body plump ; snout long, and rather sharp : 
nose divided at the tip, and upper jaw longer than 
the lower ; hind legs longer than the anterior ones, 
and furnished with but three toes ; tail short, and 
scarcely visible, whilst its body is covered with a 
hard, shining, reddish-brown hair, freckled with 
dark spots. It lives upon vegetables, holds its food 
in eating like a squirrel, and has a vicious pro- 
pensity for biting and gnawing whatever it comes 
near. For this reason it is a nuisance in the 
neighbourhood of plantations, and, as it multiplies 
rapidly, it is about the only animal which is 
hunted systematically by the-Indians. Its flesh is 
only passable. 

The gibeonite (cavia-paca) , sometimes called 
pig-rabbit, closely resembles the guinea-pig, but is 
something larger. The head is round ; the muzzle 
short and black; the upper jaw longer than the 
lower; the lip divided, like that of a hare; the 
nostrils large, and the whiskers long ; eyes brown, 
large, and prominent ; ears short and naked ; neck 
thick; body very plump, larger behind than be- 
fore, and covered with coarse, short hair, of a 
dusky brown colour, deepest on the back; the 
throat, breast, inside of the limbs, and belly dingy 
white ; and on each side of the body are five rows 
of dark spots, placed close to each other. The legs 
are short, the feet have five toes, with strong nails, 
and the tail is a simple conic projection. Its flesh 
is peculiarly juicy and i:ich, and, baked in the 



172 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

ground, the animal makes a dish for an epicure, 
I believe I did not let a day pass without having a 
baked gibeonite. 

Among the Indians of the village, the eggs and 
flesh of the river turtle were favourite articles of 
food; and in constantly using them, I thought 
they evinced a proper appreciation of what is good. 
There are two varieties of these turtles, one called 
bocatoro (Mosquito clionsivat), and the other heca- 
tee. The latter is seldom more than eighteen inches 
long, but its shell is very deep. We cooked them 
by simply separating the lower shell, taking out 
the entrails, and stuffing the cavity with cassava, 
pieces of plantain, manitee fat, and various condi- 
ments, then wrapping it in plantain leaves, as I 
have described, and turning it back down, baking 
it in the ground. It always required a good bed 
of coals to cook it properly, but when rightly done, 
the result was a meal pre-eminently savoury and 
palatable. The Indian boys brought, literally, 
bushels of the eggs of these turtles from the bars 
and sandspits of the river and lagoon. These are 
very delicate when entirely fresh. 



VOYAGE TO SANDY BAY. 



173 



CHAPTER XL 




E were not many days in exhaust- 
ing the resources of the IWkas 
village, in the way of adventures ; 
and one sunny afternoon, packed 
our little boat, and, bidding our entertainers 
good-bye, paddled down the river, on our voyage 
to Sandy Bay— next to Bluefields, the principal 
Sambo establishment on the coast. Our course 
lay, a second time, through "Wava Lagoon, which 
connects, by a narrow and intricate channel, a 
creek, with a larger lagoon to the northward, 
called Duckwarra. The night was quiet and beau- 
tiful — the crescent moon filling the air with a 
subdued and dreamy light, soothing and slum- 
brous, and so blending the real with the ideal that 
I sometimes imagined it might all have been a 
dream ! My companions; if they did not share 



174 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

the influences of the night, at least respected my 
silence, and we glided on and on, without a sound 
save the steady dip of the paddles, and the gentle 
ripple of the water, which closed in mimic whirl- 
pools on our track. 

When morning broke, we had already entered 
Duckwarra Lagoon, the largest we had encountered 
since leaving Pearl- Cay. It had the same appear- 
ance with all the others, and, having nothing to 
detain us, we steered directly across, only stopping 
near noon on one of the numerous islets, to cook 
our breakfast, and escape the midday heats. This 
islet was, perhaps, two hundred yards across, and 
elevated in the centre some fifteen or twenty feet 
above the water. Near the apex were growing a 
number of ancient palms, and, strolling up to them, 
I found at their roots a small elevation, or tumu- 
lus, perhaps fifteen feet in diameter at the base, 
and five or six feet high. Its regularity arrested 
my attention, and led me to believe that it was 
artificial. I called to Antonio, who at once pro- 
nounced it a burying-place of the " Antiguos.-" I 
proposed opening it, but my companions seemed 
loth to disturb the resting-place of the dead. How- 
ever, finding that I had commenced the work with- 
out them, they joined me, and with our machetes 
and paddles, we rapidly removed the earth. Near 
the original surface of the ground we came to some 
bones, but they were so much decayed that they 
crumbled beneath the fingers. Uncovering them 
further, we found at the head of the skeleton a 
rude vase, which was got out without much damage. 
Carefully removing the earth from the interior I 
found that it contained a number of chalcedonic 
pebbles, pierced as if for beads, a couple of arrow- 



ABORIGINAL RELICS. 



uO 




heads of similar material, and a small orna- 
ment of thin, plate gold, rudely representing 
a human figure, as shown in the accom- 
panying engraving, which is of the 
size of the original. At the feet of the 
•skeleton we also discovered another 
small vase of coarse pottery, which, 
however, contained no relics. Antonio 
seemed much interested in the little 
golden image ; but finally, after minute 
examination, returned it to me, saying, 
that although his own people in Yucatan 
often buried beneath tumuli, and had 
golden idols which they placed with the 
dead, yet in workmanship they were un- 
like the one we had discovered. 

" Ah ¥* he continued, his eyes lighting with 
unusual fire, "you should see the works of our 
ancestors ! They were gods, those ancient, holy 
men ! Their temples were built for them by Kabul, 
the Lord of the Powerful Hand, who set the seal of 
his bloody palm upon them all ! You shall go with 
me to the sacred lake of the Itzaes, where our 
people are gathered to receive the directions of the 
Lord of Teaching, whose name is Votan Balam, who 
led our fathers thither, and who has promised to 
rescue them from their afflictions I" 

He stopped suddenly, as if alarmed at what he 
had said, kissed his talisman, and relapsed again 
into the quiet, mild-eyed Indian boy, submissively 
awaiting my orders. 

We left Duckwarra Lagoon by a creek connect- 
ing it with Sandy Bay Lagoon, and on the second 
afternoon from Wava River, arrived at the Sambo 
settlement, which is on its southern shore, about 



176 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

eight miles from the sea. It stands upon the edge 
of a savannah, that rises to the southward and east- 
ward, forming, towards the sea, a series of bluffs, 
the principal of which is called Bragman's Bluff, 
and is the most considerable landmark on the coast. 

The town has something the appearance of Blue- 
fields, and contains perhaps five hundred inhabit- 
ants, who affect " English fashion" in dress and 
modes of living. That is to say, many of them 
wear English hats, even when destitute of every 
other article of clothing except the tournou, or 
breech-cloth. These hats are of styles running 
back for thirty years, and, moreover, crushed into 
a variety of shapes which are infinitely ludicrous, 
especially when the wearers affect gravity or dig- 
nity. A naked man cannot make himself abso- 
lutely ridiculous, for nature never exposes her crea- 
tions to humiliation ; but the attempts at art, in 
making up the man in the Mosquito shore, I must 
confess, were melancholy failures. 

Before we got to the village, the beating of drums, 
and the occasional firing off of muskets, announced 
that some kind of a feast or celebration was going 
on. As we approached nearer I saw the English 
flag displayed upon a tall bamboo, planted in the 
centre of a group of huts. I saw also a couple of 
boats of European construction, drawn up on the 
beach, from which I inferred that there must be a 
trading vessel on the coast, and that I was just in 
time to witness one of the orgies which always fol- 
low upon such an event. I had had some misgiv- 
ings as to the probable reception we should meet, 
in case the news of our affair with the Quamwatlas 
had reached here, and felt not a little reassured 
when I saw indications of the presence of foreigners. 



THE SAMBOS OP SA^DY BAY. 177 

The people were all so absorbed with their festi- 
vities that our approach was not noticed; but 
when we got close to the shore, I fired off both bar- 
rels of my gun by way of salute. An instant after, 
a number of men came out from among the huts, 
and hurried down to the beach. Meantime I had 
got out my " King-paper/' and leaped ashore. 

The crowd that huddled round me would have 
put FalstafFs tatterdemalion army to shame. The 
most conspicuous character among them wore a 
red check shirt, none of the cleanest, and a thread- 
bare undress coat of a British general, but had 
neither shoes nor breeches. Nor was he equally 
favoured with Captain Drummer in respect of a 
tat. Instead of a venerable chapeau, like that worn 
by the captain with so much dignity, he had an 
ancient bell-crowned " tile/' which had once been 
white, but was now of equivocal colour, and which, 
apparently from having been repeatedly used as a 
seat, was crushed up bellows fashion, and cocked 
forward in a most absurd manner. 

The wearer of this imposing garb had already 
reached the stage of " big drunk/-' and his English, 
none of the best at anytime, was now of a very un- 
certain character. He staggered up, as if to em- 
brace me, slapping his breast with one hand, and 
drawling out, " I General Slam — General Peter 
Slam !" I avoided the intended honour by stepping 
on one side, the consequence of which was, that if 
the General had not been caught by Antonio he 
certainly would have plunged into the lagoon. 

I made a marked display of my " King-paper," 
and commenced to read it to the General, but he 
motioned me to put it up, saying, " All good ! very 
great good i I Peter Slam, General !" Meantime 

N 



178 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

the spectators were reinforced from the village, and 
drums were sent for. They were of English make, 
and of the biggest. General Slam then insisted on 
escorting me up from the beach, " English gentle- 
man fashion !" and taking my arm in his unsteady 
grasp, he headed the procession, with a desperate 
attempt at steadiness, but nevertheless swaying 
from side to side, after the immemorial practice of 
drunken men. 

The General was clearly the magnate of Sandy 
Bay, (called by the Sambos Sanaby), and when we 
reached the centre of the village, where the feast 
was going on, we were saluted by a " hurrah L ; ? 
given u English fashion." Here I noticed a big ca- 
noe full of mishla, around which the drinking and 
dancing was uninterrupted. General Slam took me 
at once to his own house or hut, where the traders, 
in whose honour the feast was got up, were quar- 
tered. I found there the captain and clerk, and 
two of the crew of the " London Belle," a trading 
vessel which had recently arrived at Cape Gracias, 
from Jamaica. There was also an Englishman, 

named H , who lived at the cape, and who 

seemed to hold here a corresponding position with 
Mr. Bell in Bluefields. They were all reclining on 
crickeries, or in hammocks, and appeared to be on 
terms of easy familiarity with the natives, whose 
principal occupation, in the intervals, was that of 
passing round glasses of a kind of punch, com- 
pounded of Jamaica rum, the juice of the sugar- 
cane, and a variety of crushed fruits. 

The whole party was what is technically called 
" half-seas-over," and welcomed me with that large 
liberality which is inseparable from that condition. 
The general was slapped on the back, and told ta 



SCENES AT SANDY BAY. 179 

" bring in more girls, you bloody rascal, no skulking 
now !" Whereupon his hat was facetiously crushed 
down over his eyes by each one of his guests in 
succession, and he was kicked out of the door by 
the English captain, a rough brute of a man, who 
only meant to be playful. 

I had barely time to observe that General Slam's 
house was not entirely without evidences of civiliz- 
ation. Upon one side was a folding table, and ship's 
sideboard, or locker, both probably from some 
wreck. In the latter were a quantity of tumblers, 
decanters, plates, and other articles of Christian 
use ; and on the walls hung a few rude lithographs, 
gaudily coloured. Among them — strange juxtapo- 
sition '.—was a picture of Washington. 

My survey was interrupted by a great tumult 
near the hut, and a moment after, half-a-dozen 
Sambos, reeking with their filthy mishla, staggered 
in at the door, dragging after them a full-blooded 
Indian, quite naked, and his body bleeding in seve- 
ral places, from blows and scratches received at 
the hands of his savage assailants. The Sambos 
pushed him towards the English captain, ejaculat- 
ing, ( * Him ! him I" while the Indian himself stood 
in perfect silence, his thin lips compressed, and his 
eyes fixed on the captain. The conduct of the 
latter was in keeping with that of the drunken 
wretches who had dragged the Indian to the hut, 
and who, vociferating some unintelligible jargon, 
were brandishing their clubs over his head, and 
occasionally hitting viciously with them at his 
feet. 

"That's the bloody villain, is it T said the 
captain, leaping from his crickery, and striking the 
Indian a terrible blow in the face, which felled him 



180 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

to the ground. " Fll learn him proper respect for 
the King !" This act was followed by stamping 
his foot heavily on the fallen and apparently insen- 
sible Indian. 

The entire proceeding was to me inexplicable ; 
but this last brutality roused my indignation. I 
grasped the captain by the collar of his coat, and 
hurled him across the hut. " Do you pretend to 
be an Englishman," I said, " and yet set such an 
example to these savages ? What has this Indian 
done V 9 " Fll let you know what he has done/' 
he shrieked rather than spoke, in a wild paroxysm 
of rage ; and, grasping a knife from the table, he 
drove at me with all his force. Maddened and 
drunk as he was, I had only to step aside to avoid 
the blow. Missing his mark, he stumbled over the 
fallen Indian, and fell upon the knife, which pierced 
through and through his left arm, just below the 
shoulder. Quick as lightning the Indian leaped 
forward, tore the knife from the wound, and in 
another instant would have driven it to the cap- 
tain's heart, had I not arrested his arm. He 
glanced up in my face, dropped the knife, and 
folding his arms, stood erect and silent. 

The captain's companions, with the exception of 
Mr. H., were much inclined to be belligerent, but 
the revolver in my belt inspired them with a whole- 
some discretion. 

Meantime, the captain's wound had been bound 
up, and 'the Indian had withdrawn. The Sambos 
had retreated the instant I had interposed against 
the violence of the trader. 

The occasion of this brutal assault was simply 
this. The Sambos, living on the coast, effectually 
cut off the Indians from the sea, and, availing 



SCENES AT SANDY BAT. 181 

themselves of their position, and the advantage of 
fire-arms, make exactions of various kinds from 
them. Thus, if the Indians go off to the cays for 
turtles, they require from them a certain propor- 
tion of the shells, which is called the " king's por- 
tion." But as the Jamaica traders always keep 
the king and chiefs in debt to them, the shells 
thus collected go directly into their hands. In 
fact, it is only through the means which they 
afford, and often by their direct interference, that 
the nominal authority of the so-called king is kept 
up. It was alleged that the Indian whom the 
captain had abused, and who was a very expert 
fisherman, had not made a fair return; and his 
want of " proper respect for the king," it turned 
out, consisted in not having a sufficient quantity 
of shells to satisfy the cupidity of the trader ! 

After this occurrence at General Slam's house, I 
did not find it agreeable to stay there longer, and, 
accordingly, strolled off in the village. The fes- 
tival had now become uproarious. Around the 
mishla canoe was a motley assemblage of men, 
women, and children; some with red caps and 
frocks, others strutting about with half a shirt, and 
others entirely naked. A number of men with 
pipes and drums kept up an incessant noise, while 
others, with muskets, which they filled with pow- 
der almost to the muzzle, fired occasional volleys, 
when all joined in a general hurrah, " English 
fashion." 

At a little distance was built up a rude fence 
of palm-branches and pine-boughs, behind which 
there was a crowd of men laughing and shouting in 
a most convulsive manner. I walked forward, and 
saw that only males were admitted behind the 



182 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

screen of boughs. Here, in the midst of a large 
circle of spectators, were two men, dressed in an 
extraordinary manner, and performing the most 
absurd antics. Around their necks each had a 
sort of wooden collar, whence depended a fringe of 
palm-leaves, hanging nearly to their feet. Their 
head-dresses terminated in a tall, thin strip of wood, 
painted in imitation of the beak of a saw-fish, 
while their faces were daubed with various colours, 
so as completely to change the expression of the 
features. In each hand they had a gourd contain- 
ing pebbles, with which they marked time in their 
dances. These were entirely peculiar, and certainly 
very comical. First they approached each other, 
and bent down their tall head-pieces with the 
utmost gravity, by way of salute ; then sidled off 
like crabs, singing a couplet which had both rhythm 
and rhyme, but, so far as I could discover, no sense. 

As interpreted to me, afterwards, by Mr. H , 

it ran thus : — 

u Shovel-nosed shark, 

Grandmother, grandmother ! 
Shovel-nosed shark, 
Grandmother!" 

When the performers got tired, their places were 
taken by others, who exhausted their ingenuity in 
devising grotesque and ludicrous variations. 

When evening came, fires of pine wood were 
lighted in all directions, and the drinking and 
dancing went on, growing noisier and more out- 
rageous as the night advanced. Many got dead 
drunk, and were carried off by the women. Others 
quarelled, but the women, with wise foresight, had 
carried off and hidden all their weapons, and thus 



THE SUKIA OF SANDY BAY. 



183 



obliged them to settle their disputes with their 
fists. To me, these boxing bouts were exceedingly 
amusing. Instead of parrying each other's strokes, 
they literally exchanged them. First one would 
deliver his blow, and then stand still and take that 
of his opponent, blow for blow, until both became 
satisfied. Then they would take a drink of mishla 
together, and become friends again. 

During the whole of the evening I found myself 
closely watched by 
a hideous old wo- 
man, who moved 
around among the 
revellers like a 
ghoul. Everybody 
made way for her 
when she approach- 
ed, and none ven- 
tured to speak with 
her. There was 
something almost 
fascinating in her 
xepulsiveness. Her 
hair was long and 
matted, and her 
shrivelled skin ap- 
peared to adhere 
like that of a mum- 
my to her bones; 
for she was emaci- 
ated to the last de- SUKIA 0F sandy bay. 
gree. The nails of her fingers were long and black, 
and caused her hands to look like the claws 
some unclean bird. Her eyes were bloodshot, but 
bright and intense, and were constantly fixed upon 




of 



184 THE MOSqUITO SHOEE. 

me, like those of some wild beast on its prey. 
Wherever I moved she followed, even behind the 
screen concealing the masked dancers, where no 
other woman was admitted. 

I lingered among the revellers until their antics 
ceased to be amusing, and became simply brutal. 
Both sexes finally gave themselves up to the gross- 
est and most .shameless debauchery, such as I 
have never heard ascribed to the most bestial of 
savages. 

Disgusted and sickened, I turned away, and 
went down to the shore, preferring, after what had 
occurred at Slam's house, to sleep in my boat, to 
trusting myself in the power of the wounded 
trader. So we pushed off a few hundred feet from 
the shore, and anchored for the night. I wrapped 
myself in my blanket, and, notwithstanding the 
noisy revels in the village, savage laughter and 
angry shouts, the beating of drums and firing of 
guns, I was soon asleep. 

It was past midnight ; the moon had gone down, 
the fires of the village were burning low, and the 
dancers, stupified and exhausted, only broke out in 
occasional spasmodic shrieks, when I was awakened 
by Antonio, who placed his finger on my lips in 
token of silence. I nevertheless started up in 
something of alarm, for the image of the skinny 
old hag, who had tracked me with her snaky eyes 
all the evening, had disturbed my dreams. To my 
surprise I found the Indian, whom I had rescued 
from the drunken violence of the trader, crouch- 
ing in the bottom of the boat. He had already 
explained to Antonio, through the Poyer, that we 
were in great danger ; that the old woman who had 
haunted me was a powerful Sukia, whose com- 



POWER OF THE STIKIAS. 185 

mands were always implicitly obeyed by the super- 
stitious Sambos. Instigated by the discomfited 
trader, she had demanded our death, and even now 
her followers were planning the means to accom- 
plish it. Our safety, he urged, depended upon 
our immediate departure, and then, as if relieved 
of a burden, he slipped quietly overboard, and 
swam towards the shore. 

I was nothing loth to leave Sandy Bay, and we 
lost no time in getting up the large stone which 
served us for an anchor, and taking our departure. 
By morning we were clear of the lagoon, and in 
the channel leading from it to Wano Sound, lying 
about fifteen miles to the northward of Sandy Bay, 
and half that distance from Cape Gracias. We 
reached the sound about ten o' clock in the morn- 
ing, and stopped for breakfast on a narrow sand- 
spit, where a few trees on the shore gave shade 
and fuel. The day was excessively hot, and we 
waited for the evening before pursuing our voyage. 
During the afternoon, however, we were joined by 
Mr. H., who had got wind of the designs of the 
trader, and attempted to warn us, but found that 
we had gone. Indignant at his treachery, he had 
abandoned the brutal captain, and determined to 
return to the Cape. 

He explained to me that our danger had been 
greater than we had supposed. The old Sukia wo- 
man possessed more power over the Sambos than 
king or chief, and her commands were never dis- 
puted or neglected. The grandfather of the pre- 
sent king, he said, had been killed by her order, as 
had also his great aunt ; and although the imme- 
diate perpetrators of the deed had been executed, 
yet the king had not dared to bring the dreaded 



186 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

Sukia to justice. She had, however, been obliged 
to leave Cape Gracias, lest, during the visit of 
some English vessel of war, she should be punished 
for complicity in the murder of a couple of Eng- 
lishmen, named Collins and Pollard, who had been 
slaughtered some years before, while turtling on 
the cays off the coast. Another reason for her de- 
parture had been the advent of a more powerful 
and less malignant Sukia woman, who, he assured 
me, was gifted with prophecy, and a knowledge of 
things past and to come. He represented her as 
young, living in a very mysterious manner, far up 
the Cape River, among the mountains. None 
knew who she was, nor whence she came, nor had 
he seen her more than once, although he had con- 
sulted her by proxy on several occasions. I was 
amused at the gravity with which he recounted in- 
stances of her power over disease and her know- 
ledge of events, and could not help thinking, that 
he had resided so long on the coast as to get 
infected with the superstitions of the people. There 
was, however, no mistaking his earnestness, and I 
consequently abstained from ridiculing his stories. 
" You shall see and hear for yourself/' he added, 
" and then you will be better able to judge if I am 
a child to be deceived by the silly juggles of an 
Indian woman. These people have inherited from 
their ancestors many mysterious and wonderful 
powers ; and even the inferior order of Sukias can 
defy the poison of snakes, and the effects of fire. 
Elames and the bullets of guns are impotent 
against them." 

I found H. a man of no inconsiderable intelli- 
gence, and he gave me much information about 
the coast and its inhabitants, and, altogether, be- 



MISHLA DKINK. 187 

fore embarking we had become fast friends, and I 
had accepted an invitation to make his house my 
home during my stay at the Cape. 

I have several times alluded to the filthy mishla 
drink j which is the universal appliance of the Sam- 
bos for getting up the "big drunk/" I never wit- 
nessed the disgusting process of its preparation, 
but it has been graphically described by Roberts, 
who was a trader on the coast, and. who, twenty 
years before, had been a witness of the " rise and 
progress" of a grand debauch at Sandy Bay. 

u Preparations were going on for a grand feast 
and mishla drink. For this purpose the whole po- 
pulation was employed — most of them being en- 
gaged in collecting pine-apples, plantains, and 
cassava for their favourite liquor. The expressed 
juice of the pine-apple alone is a pleasant and 
agreeable beverage. The mishla from the plantain 
and banana, is also both pleasant and nutritive; that 
from the cassava and maize is more intoxicating, 
but its preparation is a process exceedingly dis- 
gusting. The root of the cassava, after being 
peeled and mashed, is boiled to the same consist- 
ence as when it is used for food. It is then taken 
from the fire, and allowed to cool. The pots are 
now surrounded by all the women, old and young, 
who, being provided with large calabashes, com- 
mence an attack upon the cassava, which they 
chew to the consistence of a thick paste, and then 
put their mouthsful into the bowls, until the latter 
are filled. These are then emptied into a canoe 
which is drawn up for the purpose, until it is about 
one-third filled. Other cassava is then taken, 
bruised in a kind of wooden mortar, until it is re- 
duced to the consistence of dough, when it is 



188 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

diluted with cold water, to winch is added a quan- 
tity of Indian corn, partly boiled and masticated, 
and then all is poured into the canoe, which is 
filled with water, and the mixture afterwards fre- 
quently stirred with a paddle. In the course of a 
few hours it reaches a high and abominable state 
of fermentation. The liquor, it may be observed, 
is more or less esteemed, according to the health, 
age, and constitution of the masticators. And 
when the chiefs give a private mishla drink, they 
confine the mastication to their own wives and 
young girls." 

After fermentation, the mishla has a cream-like 
appearance, and is to the highest degree intoxicat- 
ing. The drinking never ceases, so long as a drop 
can be squeezed from the festering dregs that re- 
main, after the liquid is exhausted. 



CAPE GSACIAS. 



189 



CHAPTER XII. 







APE GRACIAS A DIGS, was 

so called by Columbus, when, 
after a weary voyage, lie gave 
" Thanks to God" for the happy 
discovery of this, the extreme 
north-eastern angle of Central America. Here the 
great Cape, or "Wanks River, finds its way into the 
sea, forming a large, but shallow harbour. It was 
a favourite resort of the buccaneers, in the olden 
time, when the Spanish Main was associated with 
vague notions of exhaustless wealth, tales of heavy 
galleons, laden with gold, and the wild adventures 
of Drake, and Morgan, and Lionois. Here, too, 
long ago, was wrecked a large slaver, destined for 
Cuba, and crowded with negroes. They escaped 
to the shore, mixed with the natives, and, with 



190 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

subsequent additions to their numbers from 
Jamaica, and from the interior, originated the 
people known as the " Mosquito Indians." Sup- 
ported by the pirates, and by the governors of 
Jamaica, as a means of annoyance to the Spaniards, 
they gradually extended southward as far as Blue- 
fields, and at one time carried on a war against 
the Indians, whom they had displaced, for the pur- 
pose of obtaining prisoners, to be sold in the 
islands as slaves. 

But with the suppression of this traffic, and in 
consequence of the encroachments of the semi- 
civilized Caribs on the north, their settlement at 
the Cape has gradually declined, until now it does 
not contain more than two hundred inhabitants. 
The village is situated on the south-western side 
of the bay or harbour, not far from its entrance, 
on the edge of an extensive, sandy savannah. 

Between the shore and the village is a belt of 
thick bush, three or four hundred yards broad, 
through which are numerous narrow paths, diffi- 
cult to pass, since the natives are too lazy to cut 
away the undergrowth and branches which obstruct 
them. The village itself is mean, dirty, and in- 
fested with hungry pigs, and snarling, mangy dogs. 
The huts are of the rudest description, and most 
of them unfitted for shelter against the rain. The 
only houses which had any pretensions to comfort, 
at the time of my visit, were the " King^s house," 
another belonging to a German named Boucher, and 
that of my new Mend H. The latter was boarded 
and shingled, and looked quite a palace after my 
experience of the preceding two months, in Mos- 
quito architecture. Mr. H. made us very com- 
fortable indeed. In addition to the numerous 



A MOSQUITO SETTLER. 191 

native products of the country, he had a liberal 
supply of foreign luxuries. As a trader he had, 
for many years, carried on quite a traffic with the 
"Wanks River Indians, in deer skins, sarsaparilla, 
and mahogany, and with the Sambos themselves in 
turtle-shells. And whatever nominal authority 
may have existed previously at the Cape, it 
was obvious enough that he was now the de facto 
governor. 

Thoroughly domesticated in the country, he had 
no ambitions beyond it, and had made several, al- 
though not very successful, attempts to introduce 
industry, and improve the condition of the natives. 
At one time he had had a number of cattle on the 
savannah — which, although its soil is too poor for 
cultivation, nevertheless affords abundance of good 
grass — but the Sambos killed so many for their 
own use, that he sold the remainder to the trading 
vessels. He had now undertaken their introduc- 
tion again, with better success, and had, moreover, 
some mules and horses. The latter were sorry- 
looking beasts ; since, for want of proper care, the 
woodticks had got in their ears, and caused them 
not only to lop down, but also, in some instances, 
entirely to drop off. 

The Sambos have a singular custom, unfavour- 
able, certainly, to the raising of cattle, which Mr. 
H. had not yet entirely succeeded in suppressing. 
"Whenever a native is proved guilty of adultery, 
the injured party immediately goes out in the 
savannah and shoots a beeve, without regard to its 
ownership. The duty of paying for it then de- 
volves upon the adulterer, and constitutes the 
penalty for his offence ! 

Nearly all the Sambos at the Cape speak a little 



192 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

English, and I never passed their huts without 
being saluted, "Morning sir; give me grog!" In 
fact their devotion to grog, and general improvi- 
dent habits, are fast thinning their numbers, and 
will soon work their utter extermination. Although 
there are several places near the settlement where 
all needful supplies might be raised, yet they are 
chiefly dependent on the Indians of the river for 
their vegetables. 

There is little game on the savannah, but on the 
strip of land which separates the harbour from the 
sea, and which is called the island of San Pio, 
deer are found in abundance. This island is curi- 
ously diversified with alternate patches of savan- 
nah, bush, and marsh, and offers numerous coverts 
for wild animals. The deer, however, are only 
hunted by the few whites who live at the Cape, 
and they have hit upon an easy and novel mode of 
procuring their supply. The deer are not shy of 
cattle, and will feed side by side with them in the 
savannahs. So Mr. H. had trained a favourite 
cow to obey reins of cord attached to her horns, as 
a horse does to his bit. Starting out, and keeping 
the cow constantly between himself and the deer, 
he never has the slightest difficulty in approaching 
so close to them as to shoot them with a pistol. 
If there are more than one, the rest do not start 
off at the discharge, but only prick up their ears 
in amazement, and thus afford an opportunity for 
another shot if desired. I witnessed this labour- 
saving mode of hunting several times, and found 
that H. and his cow never failed of their object. 

While upon the subject of game, I may mention 
that San Pio abounds with birds and water-fowl. 
Among them are two varieties of snipe, beside 



A WITCH IN EBCXNY. 193 

innumerable curlews, ducks, and teal. The blue 
and green-winged teal were great favourites of 
mine, being always in good condition. They were 
not obtained, however, without the drawback of 
exposure to the sandflies, which infest the island 
in uncountable millions. The European residents 
always have a supply of turtles, which are pur- 
chased at prices of from four to eight yards of 
Osnaberg, equal to from one to two dollars, accord- 
ing to their size. Two kinds of oysters are also 
obtained here, one called the " bank oyster/' cor- 
responding with those which I obtained in Pearl 
Cay Lagoon, and the little mangrove oysters. The 
latter are about the size of half a dollar, and attach 
themselves to the roots of the mangrove-trees. It 
is a question whether a hungry man, having to 
open them for himself, might not starve before 
getting satisfied. A few hundreds, with a couple 
of Indians to open them, make a good, but mode- 
rate luncheon ! 

The bay and river swarm with fish, of the varie- 
ties which I have enumerated as common on the 
coast. During still weather they are caught with 
seines, in large quantities. These seines belong to 
the foreigners, but are drawn by the natives (when 
they happen to be hungry !), who receive half of 
the spoil. 

Mr. H. was not a little piqued at my incredulity 
in the Sukias, and, faithful to his promise, per- 
suaded one of them to give us an example of her 
powers. The place was the enclosure in the rear 
of his own house, and the time evening. The 
Sukia made her appearance alone, carrying a long 
thick wand of bamboo, and with no dress except 
the ule tournou. She was only inferior to her sister 

o 



194 THE MOSQUITO SHORE, 

at Sandy Bay in ugliness, and stalked into the 
house like a spectre, without uttering a word. H. 
cut off a piece of calico, and handed it to her as 
her recompence. She received it in perfect silence, 
walked into the yard, and folded it carefully on the 
ground. Meanwhile a fire had been kindled of 
pine splints and branches, which was now blazing 
high. Without any hesitation the Sukia walked 
up to it, and stepped in its very centre. The 
flames darted their forked tongues as high as her 
waist ; the coals beneath and around her naked 
feet blackened, and seemed to expire; while the 
toumou which she wore about her loins, cracked 
and shrivelled with the heat. There she stood, 
immovable, and apparently as insensible as a statue 
of iron, until the blaze subsided, when she com- 
menced to walk around the smouldering embers, 
muttering rapidly to herself, in an unintelligible 
manner. Suddenly she stopped, and, placing her 
foot upon the bamboo staff, broke it in the middle, 
shaking out, from the section in her hand, a full- 
grown iamagasa snake, which on the instant coiled 
itself up, flattened its head, and darted out its 
tongue, in an attitude of defiance and attack. The 
Sukia extended her hand, and it fastened on her 
wrist with the quickness of light, where it hung^ 
dangling and writhing its body in knots and coils, 
while she resumed her mumbling march around 
the embers. After a while, and with the same 
abruptness which had marked all her previous 
movements, she shook off the serpent, crushed its 
head in the ground with her heel, and, taking up 
the cloth which had been given to her, stalked 
away, without having exchanged a word with any 
one present. 



MYSTERIES. 195 

Mr. H. gave me a triumphant look, and asked 
what now I had to say. " Was there any decep- 
tion in what I had seen?" I only succeeded in 
convincing him that I was a perversely obstinate 
man, by suggesting that the Sukia was probably 
acquainted with some antidote for the venom of 
the serpent, and that her endurance of the fire was 
nothing more remarkable than that of the jugglers, 
<c fire kings/' and other vagrants at home, who 
make no pretence of supernatural powers. 

u Well/' he continued, in a tone of irritated dis- 
appointment, " can your jugglers and c fire kings' 
tell the past, and predict the future ? When you 
have your inmost thoughts revealed to yon, and 
when the spirits of your dead friends recall to your 
memory scenes and incidents known only to them, 
yourself, and God — tell me/' and his voice grew 
deep and earnest, " on what hypothesis do you ac- 
count for things like these ? Yet I can testify to 
their truth. You may laugh at what you call the 
vulgar trickery of the old hag who has just left us, 
but I can take you where even your scoffing tongue 
will cleave to its roof with awe \ where the inmost 
secrets of your heart shall be unveiled, and where 
you shall feel that you stand face to face with the 
invisible dead !" 

I have never felt it in my heart to ridicule 
opinions, however absurd, if sincerely entertained ; 
and there was that in the awed manner of my host 
which convinced me that he was in earnest in what 
he said. So I dropped the conversation, on his as- 
surance that he would accompany me to visit the 
strange woman to whom he assigned such myste- 
rious power. 

Antonio had been an attentive witness of the 



196 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

tricks of the Sukia, and expressed to me the greatest 
contempt for her pretensions. Such exhibitions, 
he said, were only fit for idle children, and vrere 
not to be confounded with the awful powers of the 
oracles, through whom the u Lord of Teaching and 
the spirits of the Holy Men" held communion 
with mortals. I spoke to him of the mysterious 
woman, who was greater than all the Sukias, and 
lived among the mountains. " She is of our 
people/' he exclaimed, warmly, r 'and her name 
is Hoxom-Bal; which means the mother of the 
Tigers. It was to seek her that I left the Holy 
City of the Itzaes, with no guide but my Lord who 
never lies. And now her soul shall enter into our 
brothers of the mountains, and they shall be tigers 
on the tracks of our oppressors l M 

The form of the Indian boy had dilated as he 
spoke; his smooth limbs were knotted by the 
swelling muscles ; his eyes burned, and his low 
voice became firm, distinct, and ominous. Eut it 
was only for an instant ; and while I listened to 
hear the great secret which swelled in his bosom, 
he stopped short, and, turning suddenly, walked 
away. But I could see that he pressed his talis- 
man closer to his breast. 

The Sukias of the coast are usually women, al- 
though their powers and authority are sometimes 
assumed by men. Their preparation for the office 
involves mortifications as rigorous as the Church 
ever required of her most abject devotees. For 
.. months do the candidates seclude themselves in 
the forests, avoiding the face of their fellows, and 
there, without arms, or means of defence, contend 
with hunger, the elements, and the wild beasts. It 
is thus that they seal their compact with the mys- 



MOSQUITO HABITS. 197 

terious powers which, rule over earth and water, air 
and fire ; and they return to the villages of their 
people, invested with all the terrors which super- 
stition has ever attached to those who seem to be 
exempt from the operation of natural laws. 

These Sukias are the " medicine-men" of the 
coast, and affect to cure disease ; but their direc- 
tions are usually more extravagant than beneficial. 
They sometimes order the victim of fever to go to 
an open sand-beach by the sea, and there, exposed 
to the burning heat of the vertical sun, await his 
cure. They have also a savage taste for blood, and 
the cutting and scarification of the body are among 
their favourite remedies. 

The Mosquitoes, I may observe here, have no idea 
of a supreme beneficent Being ; but stand in great 
awe of an evil spirit which they call Wulasha, and 
of a water-ghost, called Lewire. Wulasha is sup- 
posed to share in all the rewards which the Sukias 
obtain for their services. His half of the stipulated 
price, however, is shrewdly exacted beforehand, 
while the payment of the remainder depends very 
much upon the Sukia's success. 

Among the customs universal on the coast, is in- 
fanticide, in all cases where the child is born with 
any physical defect. As a consequence, natural de- 
formity of person is unknown. Chastity, as I have 
several times had occasion to intimate, is not con- 
sidered a virtue ; and the number of a man's wives is 
only determined by circumstances, polygamy being 
universal. Physically, the Mosquitoes have a large 
predominance of negro blood ; and their habits and 
superstitions are African rather than American. 
They are largely affected with disease, resulting 
from their unrestrained licentious intercourse 



198 THE MOSQUITO SHO&E. 

with the pirates in remote, and with traders (in 
character but one degree removed from the pirates) 
in later times. These affections, under the form 
of the lulpis, red, white, and scabbed, have come 
to be a radical taint, running through the entire 
population, and so impairing the general constitu- 
tion, as to render it fatally susceptible to all epide- 
mic diseases. This is one of the powerful causes 
which is contributing to the rapid decrease, and 
which will soon result in the total extinction, of the 
Sambos. 

Their arts are limited to the very narrow range 
of their wants, and are exceedingly rude. The 
greatest skill is displayed in their dories, canoes, 
and pitpans, which are brought down by the In- 
dians of the interior, rudely blocked out, so as to 
give the purchaser an opportunity of exercising his 
taste in the finish. Essentially fishers, they are at 
home in the water, and manage their boats with 
great dexterity. Their language has some slight 
affinity with the Carib, but has degenerated into a 
sort of jargon, in which Indian, English, Spanish, 
and Jamaica- African are strangely jumbled. They 
count by twenties, i. e., collective fingers and toes, 
and make fearful work of it when they " get up in 
the figures/'' Thus, to express thirty-seven, they say, 
" Iwanaiska - kumi -pur a - matawalsip -pura-niatlal - 
kabe-pura-kumi" which literally means, one-twenty- 
and-ten-and-six-and-one, i. e., 20 + 1 + 10 + 6 + 1 . 
They reckon their days by sleeps, their months by 
moons, and their years by the complement of thir- 
teen moons. 

Altogether, the Mosquitoes have little in their 
character to commend. Their besetting vice is 
drunkenness, which has obliterated all of their 



MOSQUITO CHAHACTEXi. 199 

better traits. Without religion, with no idea of 
government, capricious, indolent, improvident, 
treacherous, and given to thieving. All attempts 
to advance their condition have been melancholy 
failures. 

There is a suburb of the village at the Cape, 
near the river, which is called Pulien-town. Here 
I was witness of a curious ceremony, a Seekroe or 
Festival of the Dead. This festival occurs on the 
first anniversary of the death of any important 
member of a family, and is only participated in by 
the relatives and friends of the deceased. The 
prime element, as in every feast, is the chicha, of 
which all hands drink profusely. Both males and 
females were dressed in a species of cloak, of ule 
bark, fantastically painted with black and white, 
while their faces were correspondingly streaked 
with red and yellow (anotto). The music was made 
by two big droning pipes, played to a low, monoto- 
nous vocal accompaniment. The dance consisted 
in slowly stalking in a circle, for a certain length 
of time, when the immediate relatives of the dead 
threw themselves flat on their faces on the ground, 
calling loudly on the departed, and tearing up the 
earth with their hands. Then rising, they resumed 
their march, only to repeat their prostrations and 
cries. I could obtain no satisfactory explanation 
of the practice. " So did our ancestors," was the 
only reason assigned for its continuance. 

We had been at the Cape about a week, when 
Mr. H. received information that the news of our 
affair at Quamwatla had reached Sandy Bay, and 
that the vindictive trader had dispatched a fast- 
sailing dory by sea to Bluefields, to obtain orders 
for our " arrest and punishment." This news was 



200 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

brought in the night, by the same Indian whom I 
had protected from the trader's brutality, and who 
took this means of evincing his gratitude. I had 
already frankly explained to Mr. H. the circum- 
stances of our fight, which, he conceded, fully justi- 
fied all we had done. Still, as the trader might 
make it a pretext for much annoyance, he approved 
the plan which I had already formed, for other rea- 
sons, to explore the Wanks River, and accompany 
my Poyer boy to the fastnesses of his tribe, in the 
untracked wilderness lying between that river and 
the Bay of Honduras. By taking this course, I 
would be able again to reach the sea beyond the 
Sambo jurisdiction, in the district occupied by the 
Caribs, not far from the old Spanish port of Trux- 
illo. Furthermore, the tame scenery of the lagoons 
had become unattractive, and I longed for moun- 
tains and the noise of rushing waters. The famous 
Sukia woman also lived on one of the lower 
branches of the river, and in accordance with this 
plan we could visit her without going greatly out 
of our way. 

In fulfilment of his promise, Mr. H. prepared to 
accompany us as far as the retreat of the mysterious 
seeress, and two days afterwards, following the lead 
of his pitpan, we embarked. The harbour connects 
with the river by a creek at its northern extremity, 
which is deep enough to admit the passage of 
canoes. t Emerging from this, we came into the 
great Wanks River, a broad and noble stream, with 
a very slight current at its low stages, but pouring 
forth a heavy flood of waters during the rainy sea- 
son. It lias ample capacity for navigation for 
nearly a hundred miles of its length, but a bad and 
variable bar at its mouth presents an insurmount- 



THE RIVEK, WANKS. 201 

able barrier to the entrance of vessels. Very little 
is known of this river, except that it rises within 
thirty or forty miles of the Pacific, and that, for 
the upper half of its course, it flows among high 
mountains, and is obstructed by falls and shallows. 

We made rapid progress during the day, the 
river more resembling an estuary than a running 
stream. The banks, for a hundred yards or more 
back from the water, were thickly lined with bush ; 
but beyond this belt of jungle there was an unin- 
terrupted succession of sandy savannahs. There 
were no signs of inhabitants, except a few huts, at 
long intervals, at places where the soil happened to 
be rich enough to admit of cultivation. We never- 
theless met a few Indians coming down with canoes 
to be sold at the Cape, who regarded us curiously, 
and in silence. 

Near evening we encamped at a point where a 
ridge of the savannah, penetrating the bush, came 
down boldly to the river, forming an eddy, or cove, 
which seemed specially intended for a halting-place. 
Mr. H. had named the bluff " Iguana Point," from 
the great number of iguanas found there. They 
abound on the higher parts of the entire coast, but 
I had seen none so large as those found at this 
place. It is difficult to imagine uglier reptiles — 
great, overgrown, corrugated lizards as they are, 
with their bloated throats and snaky eyes ! They 
seemed to think us insolent intruders, and waddled 
off with apparent sullen reluctance when we 
approached. But the law of compensations holds 
good in respect to the iguanas, as in regard to 
everything else. If they are the ugliest reptiles in 
the world, they are, at the same time, among the 
best to eat. So our men slaughtered three or four 



202 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

of the largest, selecting those which appeared to be 
fullest of eggs. Up to this time I had not been 
able to overcome my repugnance sufficiently to 
taste them; but now, encouraged by H., I made 
the attempt. The first few mouthfuls went much 
against the grain ; but I found the flesh really so 
delicate, that before the meal was finished, I suc- 
ceeded in forgetting my prejudices. The eggs are 
especially delicious, surpassing even those of the 
turtle. It may be said, to the credit of the ugly 
iguana, that in respect of his own food, he is as 
delicate as the humming-bird, or the squirrel, living 
chiefly upon flowers and blossoms of trees. He is 
frequently to be seen on the branches of large 
trees, overhanging the water, whence he looks down 
with curious gravity upon the passing voyager. 
His principal enemies are serpents, who, however, 
frequently get worsted in their attacks, for the 
iguana has sharp teeth and powerful jaws. Of the 
smaller varieties, there are some of the liveliest 
green. Hundreds of these may be seen on the 
snags and fallen trunks that line the shores of the 
rivers. They will watch the canoe as it approaches, 
then suddenly dart off to the shore, literally walking 
the water, so rapidly that they almost appear like a 
green arrow skipping past. They are called, in the 
language of the natives, by the generic name, kaka- 
muk. 

In strolling a little distance from our camp, 
before supper, I saw a waddling animal, which I 
at first took for an iguana. A moment after, I per- 
ceived my mistake. It appeared to be doing its 
best to run away, but so clumsily, that, instead of 
shooting it, I hurried forward, and headed off its 
course. In attempting to pass me, it came so near 



CAPTURE OF AN ARMADILLO. 203 

that I stopped it with my foot. In an instant it 
literally rolled itself up into a ball, looking for all 
the world like a large sea-shell, or rather like one 
of those curious, cheese-like, coralline productions, 
known among sailors as sea-eggs. I then saw it 
was an armadillo, that little mailed adventurer of 
the forest, who, like the opossum, shams death 
when " cornered," or driven into u a tight place." I 
rolled him over, and, grasping him by his stumpy 
tail, carried him into camp. He proved to be of 
the variety known as the " three-banded armadillo," 
cream-coloured, and covered with hexagonal scales. 
I afterwards saw several other larger varieties, with 
eight and nine bands. The flesh of the armadillo 
is white, juicy, and tender, and is esteemed one of 
the greatest of luxuries. 



204 



THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 



CHAPTER XIII. 




T noon, on the second day of our 
departure from Cape Gracias, we 
came to a considerable stream, 
named Bocay, which enters the 
river Wanks from the south-west. It was on the 
banks of this river, some ten or fifteen miles above 
its mouth, that the famed Sukia woman resided. 
We directed our boats up the stream, the water of 
which was clear, and flowed with a rapid current. 
We were not long in passing through the belt of 
savannah which flanks the Cape River, on both 
sides, for fifty miles above its mouth. Beyond this 
came dense primitive forests of gigantic trees, 
among which the mahogany was conspicuous. The 
banks, too, became high and firm, occasionally 
presenting rocky promontories, around which the 



BOCAY. 205 

water swept in dark eddies. Altogether, it was 
evident that we had entered the mountain region 
of the continent, and were at the foot of one of the 
great dependent ranges of the primitive chain of 
the Cordilleras. 

In places, the river was compressed among high 
hills, with scarped, rocky faces, where the current 
was rapid and powerful, and only overcome by 
vigorous efforts at the paddles. These were suc- 
ceeded by beautiful intervals of level ground, in- 
viting localities for the establishments of man. 
We passed two or three sweet and sheltered nooks, 
in which were small clearings and the picturesque 
huts of the Indians. Excepting an occasional 
palm-tree, or isolated cluster of plantains, clinging 
to the shore where their germs had been lodged by 
the water, there was nothing tropical in the aspect 
of nature, unless perhaps the greater size of the 
forest-trees, and the variety of parasitic plants 
which they supported. 

Our progress against the current was compara- 
tively slow and laborious, and it was late in the 
evening when the glittering of fires on the bank> 
and the barking of dogs, announced to us the 
proximity of the Indian village of Bocay, to which 
we were bound. We reached it in due time, and 
were received quite ceremoniously by the old men 
of the place, who seemed to be perfectly aware of 
our coming. This struck me at the time as due 
to the foresight of Mr. H., but I afterwards learned 
that he had given the Indians no intimation of our 
proposed visit. 

A vacant hut was assigned to us, and we com- 
menced to arrange our hammocks and prepare our 
supper. Our meal was scarcely finished, when 



206 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

there was. a sudden movement among the Indians, 
who clustered like bees around our door, and a 
passage for some one approaching was rapidly 
opened. A moment afterwards an old woman came 
forward, and, stopping in the low doorway, re- 
garded us in silence. In bearing and dress she 
differed much from the rest of the people. Around 
her forehead she wore a broad band of cotton, in 
which were braided the most brilliant feathers of 
birds. This band confined her hair, which hung 
down her back, like a veil, nearly to the ground. 
From her waist depended a kilt of tiger-skins, and 
she wore sandals of the same on her feet. Around 
each wrist and ankle she had broad feather bands, 
like that which encircled her forehead. 

Her eyes soon rested upon Antonio, who, on the 
instant of her approach, had discontinued his work, 
and advanced to the door. They exchanged a 
glance as if of recognition, and spoke a few hurried, 
and, to us, unintelligible words, when the old wo- 
man turned suddenly, and walked away. I looked 
inquiringly at the youthful Indian, whose eyes 
glowed again with that mysterious intelligence 
which I had so often remarked. 

He came hastily to my side, and whispered in 
Spanish, "The Mother of the Tigers is waiting l v 
Then, with nervous steps, he moved towards the 
door. I beckoned to H., and followed. The In- 
dians opened to the right and left, and we passed 
out, scarcely able to keep pace with the rapid steps 
of the Indian boy. On he went, as if familiar with 
the place, past the open huts, and into the dark 
forest. I now saw that he followed a light, not 
like that of a flame, but of a burning coal, which 
looked close at one moment, and distant the next. 



SANCTUARY OF THE SUJilA. 207 

The path, though, narrow, was smooth, and as- 
cended rapidly. For half an hour we kept on at 
the same quick pace, when the trees began to 
separate, and I could see that we were emerging 
from the dark forest into a comparatively open 
space, in which the graceful plumes of the palm- 
trees appeared, traced lightly against the starry 
sky. Here the guiding fire seemed to halt, and, 
coming up, we found the same old woman who had 
visited us in the village, and who now carried a 
burning brand as a direction to our steps. She 
made a sign of silence, and moved on slowly, and 
with apparent caution. A few minutes' walk 
brought us to what, in the dim light, appeared to 
be a building of stone, and soon after to another 
and larger one. I saw that they were partly 
ruined, for the stars in the horizon were visible 
through the open doorways. Our guide passed 
these without stopping, and led us to the threshold 
of a small cane-built hut, which stood beyond the 
ruin. The door was open, and the light from 
within shone out on the smoothly beaten ground 
in front, in a broad unwavering column. We en- 
tered ; but for the moment I was almost blinded 
by a blaze of light proceeding from torches of pine- 
wood, planted in each corner. I was startled also 
by an angry growl, and the sudden apparition of 
some wild animal at our feet. I shrank back with 
a feeling of alarm, which was not diminished when 
upon recovering my powers of vision, I saw directly 
in front of us, as if guardian of the dwelling, e 
large tiger, its fierce eyes fixed upon us, and slowly 
sweeping the ground with its long tail, as if pre- 
paring to spring at our throats. 

It, however, stopped the way only for a moment. 



208 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

A single word and gesture from the old woman 
drove it into a corner of the hut, where it crouched 
down in quiet. I glanced around, but excepting a 
single rude Indian drum, placed in the centre of 
the smooth earthen floor, and a few blocks of stone 
planted along the w T alls for seats, there were no 
other articles, either of use or ornament, in the 
hut. But at one extremity of the low apartment, 
seated upon an outspread tiger-skin, was a woman, 
whose figure and manner at once marked her out 
as the extraordinary Sukia whom we had come so 
far to visit, She was young, certainly not over 
twenty, tall, and perfectly formed, and wore a 
tiger-skin in the same manner as the old woman 
who had acted as her messenger, but the band 
around her forehead, and her armlets and anklets,, 
were of gold. 

She rose when we entered, and, with a faint 
smile of recognition to H., spoke a few words of 
welcome. I had expected to see a bold pretender 
to supernatural powers, whose first efforts would 
be directed to work upon the imaginations of her 
visitors, and was surprised to find that the (i Mo- 
ther of the Tigers" was after all only a shy and 
timid Indian girl. Her looks, at first, were 
troubled, and she glanced into our eyes inquir- 
ingly ; but suddenly turning her gaze towards the 
open door, she uttered an exclamation of mingled 
surprise and joy, and in an instant after she stood 
by the side of Antonio. They gazed at each other 
in silence, then exchanged a rapid signal and a 
single word, when she turned away, and Antonio 
retired into a corner, where he remained fixed as a 
statue, regarding every movement with the closest 
attention. 



SANCTUARY OP THE SUXIA. 209 

No sooner had the Sukia resumed her seat, than 
she clasped her forehead in her open palms, and 
gazed intently upon the ground before her. Never 
have I seen the face of a human being which wore 
a more earnest expression. For five minutes, per- 
haps, the silence was unbroken, when a sudden 
sound, as of the snapping of the string of a violin, 
directed our attention to the rude drum that stood 
in the centre of the hut. This sound was followed 
by a series of crackling noises, like the discharges 
of electric sparks. They seemed to occur irregu- 
larly at first, but as I listened, I discovered that 
they had an harmonious relationship, as if in accom- 
paniment to some simple melody. The vibrations 
of the drum were distinctly visible, and they seemed 
to give it a circular motion over the ground, from 
left to right. The sounds stopped as suddenly as 
they had commenced, and the Sukia, lifting her 
head, said solemnly, " The spirits of your fathers 
have come to the mountain ! I know them not ; 
you must speak to them/'' 

*--■* ^ *..■*.■ * 

I hesitate to recount what I that night witnessed 
in the rude hut of the Sukia, lest my testimony 
should expose both my narrative and myself to 
ridicule and unjust imputations. Were it my pur- 
pose to elaborate an impressive story, it would be 
easy to call in the aid of an imposing machinery, 
and invest the communications which were that 
night made to us with a portentous significance. 
But this would be as foreign to truth as repugnant 
to my own feelings ; for whatever tone of lightness 
may run through this account of my adventures in 
the wilderness, those who know me will bear wit- 
ness to my respect for those things which are in 

p 



210 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

their nature sacred, or connected with the more 
mysterious elements of our existence. I can only- 
say, that except the somewhat melodramatic man- 
ner in which we had been conducted up the 
mountain by the messenger of the sukia, and the 
incident of the tamed tiger, nothing occurred during 
our visit which appeared to have been designed 
for effect, or which was visibly out of the ordinary 
course of things. It is true, I was somewhat 
puzzled, I will not say impressed, with the perfect 
understanding, or relationship, which seemed to 
exist between the Sukia and Antonio. This rela- 
tionship, however, was fully explained in the 
sequel. Among the ruling and the priestly classes 
of the semi- civilized nations of America, there has 
always existed a mysterious bond, or secret organi- 
zation, which all the disasters to which they have 
been subjected have not destroyed. It is to its 
present existence that we may attribute those 
simultaneous movements of the aborigines of 
Mexico, Central America, and Peru, which have, 
more than once, threatened the complete subversion 
of the Spanish power. 

* ■* * * * 

It was past midnight when, with a new and 
deeper insight into the mysteries of our present 
and future existence, and a fuller and loftier appre- 
ciation of the great realities which are to follow 
upon the advent of every soul into the universe, 
and of which earth is scarcely the initiation, that 
H. and myself left the sanctuary of the Sukia. 
The moon had risen, and now silvered every object 
with its steady light, revealing to us that we stood 
upon a narrow terrace of the mountain, facing the 
east, and commanding a vast panorama of forest 



SANCTUARY OF THE SUKIA. 



211 



and savannah, bounded only by the distant sea. 
Immediately in front of the hut from which we had 
emerged, stood one of the ruined structures to 
which I have already alluded. By the clear light 
of the moon I could perceive that it was built of 
large stones, laid with the greatest regularity, and 
sculptured all over with strange figures, having a 
close resemblance, if not an absolute identity, with 
those which have become familiarized to us by the 
pencil of Gather wood. 




THE SANCTUARY OF THE SUKIA. 

It appeared originally tof have been of two storeys, 
but the upper walls had fallen, and the ground was 



212 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

encumbered ' with the rubbish, over which vines 
were trailing, as if to veil the crumbling ruins from 
the gaze of men. As we moved away, and at a 
considerable distance from the ruins, we observed 
a large erect stone, rudely sculptured in the outline 
of a human figure. Its face was turned to the 
East, as if to catch the first rays of the morning, 
and the light of the moon fell full upon it. To 
my surprise, its features were the exact counter- 
parts of those which appeared on Antonio's 
talisman. There was no mistaking the rigid, yet 
not ungentle, expression of the " Lord who never 
lies." 

Silently we followed the guide, who had con- 
ducted us up the mountain, into the narrow path 
which led to the village. She indicated to us the 
direction we were to pursue with her hand, and 
left us without a word. I was so absorbed in my 
own reflections that it was not until we had reached 
our temporary quarters that I missed Antonio. He 
had remained behind. But when I awoke next 
morning he had returned, and was busily preparing 
for our departure. " It is well with our brothers of 
the mountains !" was his prompt response to my 
look of inquiry. From that day forward his absorb- 
ing idea seemed to be to return as speedily as 
possible to his people. It was long afterwards that 
I discovered the deep significance of the visit of 
the youthful chieftain of the Itzaes to the Indian 
seeress of the River Bocay. Since then the Spa- 
niard, though fenced round with bayonets, has 
often shuddered when he has heard the cry of the 
tiger in the stillness of the night, betraying the 
approach of those injured men, whose relentless 
arms, nerved by the recollections of three centuries 



NTJEVA SEGOVIA. 213 

of oppression, now threaten the utter extermina- 
tion of the race of the conquerors ! 

Our passage down the Bocay was rapid compared 
with the ascent, and at noon we had reached the 
great river. My course now lay in one direction, 
and that of Mr. H. in another, but we were loth to 
separate, and he finally agreed to accompany us to 
our first stopping-place, and, passing the night with 
us there, return next day to the Cape. It was 
scarcely four o'clock when we reached the desig- 
nated point, chiefly remarkable as marking the 
termination of the savannahs. Beyond here the 
banks of the river became elevated, rising in hills 
and high mountains, densely covered with a 
gigantic primeval forest. Our Indian companions 
speedily supplied us with an abundance of fish, 
with which the river seemed to swarm, And as 
for vegetables — wherever the banks of the river 
are low there is a profusion of bananas and plan- 
tains, growing from bulbs, which have been brought 
down from the interior, and deposited by the river 
in its overflows. 

Mr. H. had once ascended the river to its source, 
in the elevated mining district of New Segovia, the 
extreme north-western department of Nicaragua. 
The ascent had occupied him twenty days. In 
many places, he said, the channel is completely in- 
terrupted by falls and impassable rapids, around 
which it was necessary to drag the canoes. In 
other places the river is compressed between 
vertical walls of rock, and the water runs with 
such force that it required many attempts and 
the most vigorous exertions to get the boats 
through. 

He represented that New Segovia has a consider- 



214 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

able population of civilized Indians, whose princi- 
pal occupation is the washing of gold, which is 
found in all the upper waters. Their mode of 
life he described as affording a curious illustration 
of the influence of the Catholic priests, who are 
scattered here and there, and who exercise almost 
unbounded influence over the simple natives. The 
nature of their relationship, as well as their own 
manners, were so well illustrated by an incident 
which befell him during his visit there, that I 
shall attempt to relate it, as nearly as possible 
in his own words. The reader must bear in mind 
that the recital was made in a fragmentary manner^ 
in the intervals of vigorous puffing at a huge 
cigar, and that I have taken the liberty of com- 
mencing at the beginning of the story, and not at 
the end. 



a ®ale of SUanfes SKfter. 

" On our nineteenth evening from the Cape," 
said H., " after a fatiguing day of alternate poling 
and paddling, we reached Pantasma, the extreme 
frontier Segovian settlement on the river. As we 
drew up to the bank, thankful for the prospect of 
shelter and rest which the village held out, we were 
surprised to hear the music of drums and pipes, 
and, for, a moment, were under the pleasing im- 
pression that the people had, in some way, got in- 
formation of our approach, and had taken this 
mode of giving us a welcome. However, we soon 
saw that the musicians were in attendance on a 
white man, whose garb had a strange mixture of 
civilized and savage fashions. He regarded us 



A TALE OF WANKS RIVER. 215 

curiously for a few moments, and then, giving the 
nearest musicians each a vigorous kick, he ran 
down to the water, and bestowed upon all of us 
an equally hearty embrace ! Propounding a dozen 
inquiries in a breath, he announced himself an 
Englishman ' in a d — 1 of a fix/ whose immediate 
and overshadowing ambition was, that all hands 
should go straight to his hut and have something 
to drink ! Our first impression was decidedly 
that the man was mad ; but we were undeceived 
when we got to his house, which we found profusely 
supplied with food, and where we were not long in 
making ourselves thoroughly at home. Perhaps 
what we drank had something to do with it, but 
certainly we nearly died with laughter in listening 
to our host's recital of his adventures in Central 
America, and especially of the way in which he had 
got to Pantasma, and came to have an escort of 
musicians. 

"His name, he said, was Harry F . He 

was the son of a London merchant, who was well 
to do in the world. As usual with sons of such 
papas, he had gone to school when younger, and 
entered his father's establishment when old enough, 
where, as the probable successor of the principal, 
he was, in his own estimation at least, an important 
personage, and altogether above work. He never- 
theless affected a great liking for the packing de- 
partment, for the reason that it connected with a 
vault, in which he had established a smoking-room, 
where he spent the day in devising plans of amuse- 
ment for the night, in company with chosen spirits 
and choice Havanas. 

u When he had reached his majority, his father 
thought it prudent to detach him from his associa- 



216 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

tions, by giving him a little experience in the 
severities of the world. Having several friends in 
Belize, he fitted him out with an adventure, cost- 
ing some five hundred pounds, and consisting of 
nearly every useless article that could be found, 
which, by its glitter and gaud, it was supposed, 
would attract the easily- dazzled eyes of the people 
of the tropics. He duly arrived at Belize, full of 
bright anticipations. One of his cherished schemes 
was to sell his jewellery in the towns of the interior, 
at four hundred per cent, profit, and, after paying 
expenses and losses, to return at once to London, 
with one thousand pounds clear profit ! So he went 
to Guatemala, and spread out his tempting wares. 
But he met with poor success, and at the end of 
two years, having gone on from bad to worse, he 
at last found himself in the Indian town where 
we discovered him — a Catholic mission, under a 
reverend padre, who had been educated at Leon, 
and had passed most of his simple life, being now 
over three-score and ten, among the simple In- 
dians, whom he governed. When Harry first ar- 
rived, he proceeded to the nearest hut, where the 
usual hospitality of room to hang his hammock 
was accorded him, while his valise was installed in 
a corner — said valise containing the remnants of 
the venture from London, now dwindled down to 
a very small compass indeed. Of his success in 
trading Harry spoke very frankly : ' The hardest 
lot of worthless articles I ever saw; some that I 
could not even give away ; and those which I sold, 
I had to trust to people so poor, that they never 
paid me ! So I let one man pick out all he 
had a mind to, for two huudred pounds in cash ; 
and that paid my expenses in Guatemala, until 



A TALE OF WANKS EITEE. 217 

I got tired of the place, and started off down 
here/ / 

" After swinging his hammock in his new quar- 
ters, Harry made the tour of the village,, and called 
on the padre, who was delighted to see him, as 
padres always are, took him to his church, which 
was as large as a city parlour, and then gave him a 
good dinner of fish and turtle. Harry had not had 
so sumptuous a meal for many a day; and when 
the good father brought forth a joint of bamboo, 
which held nearly a gallon, and drew from it a 
supply of tolerable rum, he felt that he had fallen 
into the hands of a good Samaritan. So long as 
this hospitality lasted, he sought no change. In 
the fulness of his gratitude, he made visits to all 
the huts in the village, and overwhelmed the 
inmates with presents of articles which he had not 
been able to give away in other places. In return 
they gave him part of a morning's fishing, or part 
of a turtle, and thus kept him in provisions. But 
times changed after a few days ; his friend the 
padre ceased to bring forth the bamboo joint, and 
at the same time commenced to exhort him to re- 
pentance, and to the acceptance of the true church. 
His host, too, declined to catch any more fish than 
were consumed by his interesting wife and three 
naked children. 

" Harry smoked long and intensely over the sub- 
ject. He might make 'a raise' on a pair of panta- 
loons; but then, when that was gone? It was 
the first time in his life that he had been obliged 
seriously to reflect how he should be able to get 
his next meal. He tried oranges, bananas, and 
pine-apples, but still he was hungry. As to fish- 
ing, he had never caught a fish in his life, and a 



218 THE MOSqUITO SHORE. 

turtle would be perfectly safe under his feet. His» 
case became desperate. Such cases require despe- 
rate remedies, and Harry went to the Padre to 
consult with him as to the best mode of reaching 
Leon, distant some two hundred miles beyond the 
mountains. 

" It was a lucky moment for a visit to the 
reverend father, since, in return for some hides, 
sarsaparilla, and balsam, sent by him to his cor- 
respondent, the padre at Choluteca, a large town 
on the Pacific, he had received, among other luxu- 
ries, a reinforcement of bamboo joints. These had 
already added to his good humour, and given to 
his fat corporation and ruddy face an unusual 
glow. He gave Harry a warm greeting, and, 
pointing to the broached joint, told him to help 
himself, which he did without reserve. Harry, in 
his best, though very bad Spanish, stated his case, 
and the holy father listened and replied. The 
next morning our hero awoke, and was rather sur- 
prised to find himself yet at the padre's house, 
where he had slept in a hammock. An empty 
bamboo joint was beside him, and he had a glim- 
mering idea of a compact with the padre, through 
which he was to be extricated from his present 
uncomfortable position, and reach Leon in a most 
acceptable manner. But how this was to be done 
had escaped him ; he had only a faint recollection 
that the padre had insisted upon initiating him into 
some mystery or other, and that in the fulness of 
his heart he had assented, to the great joy of the 
priest, who on the spot had given him a hearty 
embrace, and commenced teaching him how to 
make the sign of the cross. The worthy padre 
awoke with rather different sensations, for he felt 



A TALE OF WANKS ETVEE. 219 

exalted with, the thought that he, a poor priest 
over a miserable Indian community for forty years, 
should finally be able to rescue the soul of a heretic 
from the arch enemy. He was thankful that his 
eloquence had enabled him to attach an immortal 
being to the true church — a white one at that, who 
was of more value than a whole community of 
savages. It was a miracle, he was satisfied, of his 
patron saint, Leocadia ! So without loss of time 
he proceeded with the work of redemption. Harry 
proved an apt disciple ; and after making up a lot 
of cigars from the tobacco-pouch of the padre, the 
latter proceeded to explain to him what he required 
in the premises. Harry's mouth opened, and his 
cigar fell unheeded to the ground, when the padre 
announced his intention to administer to him the 
rite of baptism without delay. 

8 By the time he had finished his explanation, 
Harry's mind was made up; as there were no 
lookers on whom he cared for, he would let the 
padre have his way, or, as he afterwards expressed 
it, * put him through/ 

" For several days the padre and himself worked 
hard. He went carefully over the various responses 
and prayers, as they were dictated to him, made 
the sign of the cross in due form and proper place, 
and, by the assistance of the bamboo joint, was on 
the second day pronounced in a hopeful state, and 
told that the afternoon following should witness the 
final act of his salvation. The sun was declining, 
when Harry, habited in his best, proceeded to the 
padre's house. He was rather surprised at meeting 
so many people, for he had not been consulted in 
any of the arrangements, and was not aware that 
every native in the vicinity had been notified of the 



220 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

ceremony' in which lie was to take so important a 
part. All had come, men, women, and children, 
dressed in very scanty, but very clean, white cotton 
garments. They opened a passage for him to enter 
the padre's house, whom he found arrayed in his 
priestly vestments. He was informed that all 
were about proceeding to his house to escort him 
to the church, but that, being on the spot, the 
procession would form at once. Harry submitted 
without question to the padre's directions, had a 
quiet interview with the bamboo joint, and was 
ready. The procession was headed by four alcaldes 
of different villages, each with his official baton, a 
tall, gold-headed staff. Next came the music, 
consisting of three performers on rude clarionets, 
made of long joints of cane, and three performers 
on drums, each made of a large calabash with a 
monkey-skin drawn over it. Next came Harry 
and the worthy padre, and then the people of the 
village, and the ' invited guests/ six deep, and a 
hundred all told. When our hero took his place in 
the procession, the padre threw over his shoulders 
a poncho, six feet long, gaudily decorated with the 
tails of macaws, bright feathers from strange birds, 
and strings of small river-shells, which rattled at 
every step ; and thus they started. First they 
went to Harry's own hut, and, as they doubled 
that, and took their route towards the church, he 
could see the last of the procession leaving the 
vicinity of the padre's house. After the manner 
of their processions on high religious festivals, they 
came singing and dancing, and altogether appear- 
ing very happy. Harry was glad in his heart that 
no white man was looking on, and had to laugh 
inwardly at the fuss that was made over him. In 



A TALE OF WAXES BIVER. 221 

due time they arrived at the church, and the usual 
ceremonies of baptism were gone through with, 
succeeded by a dance on the grass, to say nothing 
of a liberal dispensation from the padre's bamboo 
joints. The padre dismissed the assembly very 
early, and retired, never having had so glorious or 
so fatiguing a day within his memory, and he was 
the oldest inhabitant ! 

" Harry wended his way to his hammock, made 
a cigar, thought over the events of the day, and 
wondered whether the church was now bound to 
find him fish and the et ceteras ; but, before any 
conclusion could be come at in his mind, he fell 
asleep. Awaking in the morning, he was accosted 
at his door by several neighbours, who asked him 
to accept the presents they had brought, which he 
did, of course, without knowing that it is always the 
custom to send something to every villager when- 
ever he happens to have a christening, a marriage, 
or a death in his family. This being a very great 
occasion, everybody had been liberal and generous 
withal, and in a short space he found himself sup- 
plied with provisions for a long time, more fish 
than he could eat in months, turtles, chickens, 
pigs, eggs, piles of fruit of all kinds, yams, wild 
animals, in fact everything that was edible. Send- 
ing a large part of his presents as an offering to 
the church, Harry returned to his hammock and 
cigar, while his hostess commenced cooking with 
an agreeable alacrity. 

" Late in the afternoon he started for the padre's 
house, but had hardly emerged from his hut when 
he was somewhat surprised to find himself joined 
by the musicians of the village, the clarionet taking 
precedence, and the drum filing in, both playing 



222 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

the usual no-tune to the best of their ability. And 
thus it happened for weeks afterwards, for thus did 
the padre seek to do honour to the new disciple of 
the faith. 

" It was on one of these formal promenades/' 
continued H., " that we made our appearance at 
Pantasma, to Harry's exceeding astonishment and 
great joy. We ridiculed him for his emphatic dis- 
missal of his musical friends, but he was too much 
delighted to be captious, and sent straightway for 
the padre, who brought with him a bamboo-joint 
wherewith we made merry, even to the going 
down of the sun. We all went to sleep while the 
worthy priest was reading to us the certificate of 
Harry's baptism, which he had carefully engrossed 
on five closely-written pages." 

" And what/' I inquired, " became of the con- 
vert?" 

" Oh ! he returned with us ; and that old port 
which you tasted at the Cape is one of the many 
evidences which I have received of his grateful re- 
collection since he has returned to London to the 
inheritance of his fathers." 



x» 



GREAT CAPE RIVER. 



223 



CHAPTER XIV. 




FOR three days after our parting 
with H., we kept on our course up 
the Great Cape river. The cur- 
rent increased as we advanced, and 
large rocks of quartz and granite began to appear 
in the channel. The valley of the river also con- 
tracted to such a degree as to deserve no better 
name than that of a gorge. Sometimes we found 



224 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

ourselves, for miles together, shut in between high 
mountains, whose rugged and verdureless tops rose 
to mid-heaven, interposing impassable barriers to 
the vapour-charged clouds which the north-east 
trade-winds pile up against their eastern declivi- 
ties, where they are precipitated in almost un- 
ceasing rains. Night and storm overtook us in one 
of these gigantic mountain clefts. The thunder 
rolled along the granite peaks, and the lightning 
burned adown their riven sides, and was flashed 
back by the dark waters of the angry river. The 
dweller in northern latitudes can poorly compre- 
hend any description which may be given of a 
tropical storm. To say that the thunder is inces- 
sant, does not adequately convey to the mind the 
terror of these prolonged peals which seem to 
originate in the horizon, roll upwards to the zenith, 
louder and louder, until, silent for a moment, they 
burst upon the earth in blinding flame, and a con- 
centrated crash, which makes the very mountains, 
reel to their foundations. Not from one direction 
alone, but from every quarter of the compass, the 
elements seem to gather to the fierce encounter, 
and the thunder booms, and the lightning blazes 
from a hundred rifts in the inky sky. So intense 
and searing is the electric flame, that for hours 
after heavy storms I have had spasmodic attacks 
of blindness, accompanied with intense pain of the 
eyeballs. I found that my Indian companions 
were equally affected, and that to avoid evil con- 
sequences they always bound their handkerchiefs, 
dipped in water, over their eyes while the storm 
continued. The Indians, I may here mention, 
have many prejudices on the subject of electricity, 
as well as in regard to the effect of the rays of the 



MOONSHINE. 225 

moon. They will not sleep with their faces exposed 
to its light, nor catch fish on the nights when 
it is above the horizon. My companions, at such 
times, always selected the densest shade for our 
encampment. They affirmed that the effect of ex- 
posure would be the distortion of the features, and 
the immediate mortification of such wounds and 
bruises as might be reached by the moonlight. I 
afterward found that the mahogany-cutters on the 
north coasts never felled their trees at certain periods 
of the moon, for the reason, as they asserted, that 
the timber was then not only more liable to check 
or split, but also more exposed to rot. They have 
the same notion with the Indians as to the effect 
of the moonlight on men and animals, and sup- 
port it by the fact that animals, left to themselves, 
always seek shelter from the moon, when selecting 
their nightly resting-places. 

We had now ascended the river, five full days 
from the Cape, having, according to my computa- 
tion, advanced one hundred and twenty miles. 
The Poyer was perfectly acquainted with the 
stream, which he had several times descended with 
the people of his village, in their semi-annual visits 
to the coast. In these visits, he told me, they 
took down liquid amber, a few deer-skins, a little 
anatto, and sarsaparilla, bringing back iron barbs 
for their arrows, knives, machetes, and a few 
articles of ornament. 

On the night of the fifth day, we encamped at 
the mouth of the Tirolas, a considerable stream, 
which enters the Wanks from the north, and up 
which we, next morning, took our course. Our 
advance was now slow and laborious, owing to the 
rapidity of the current, and the numerous rocks 



226 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

and fallen trees which obstructed the channel. 
The river wound among hills, which increased in 
altitude as we penetrated farther inland, until I 
discovered that we were approaching the great 
mountain range, which traverses the country from 
south-west to north-east, constituting the " divide/' 
or water- shed, as I afterward found, between the 
valley of the Cape River and the streams which 
flow northward into the Bay of Honduras. Hour 
by hour we came nearer to this great barrier, which 
presented to us a steep and apparently inaccessible 
front. I was rather appalled when my Poyer told 
me that the village of his people lay beyond this 
range, over which we would be obliged to climb 
in order to reach it. However, there was now no 
alternative left but to go ahead, so I gave myself 
no further concern, although I could not help 
wondering how we were to clamber up the dizzy 
steeps which appeared more and more abrupt as we 
approached them. 

It was on the second evening after leaving the 
great river, that we reached the head of canoe na- 
vigation on the Tirolas, at a point where two bright 
streams, tumbling over their rocky beds, united in 
a placid pool of clear water, at the very feet of the 
mountains. It was a spot of surpassing beauty. 
The pool, was, perhaps, a hundred yards broad, 
and, in places, twenty or thirty feet deep, yet so 
clear that every pebble at the bottom, and every 
fish which sported in its crystal depths, were dis- 
tinctly visible to the eye. Upon one side rose huge 
gray rocks of granite, draped over with vines, 
and shadowed by large and wide-spreading trees, 
whose branches, crowded with the wax-like leaves 
and flowers of innumerable air-plants, cast dark, 



TIROLAS EMBARCADERO. 227 

broad shadows on the water. Upon the other side 
was a smooth, sandy beach, Completely sheltered 
from the sun by larger trees, beneath which were 
drawn up a number of canoes, carefully protected 
from the weather by rude sheds of cahoon leaves. 
These canoes belonged to the Poyer Indians, and 
are used by them in their voyages to the Cape. A . 
little lower down the stream were clusters of palm- 
trees, and large patches of bananas and plantains, 
w T hich seemed to have been carefully nurtured by 
the Indians in their visits to this picturesque 
" embarcadero" 

The slant rays of the evening sun fell upon one 
half of the pool, where the little ripples chased each 
other sparkling to the shore, while upon the other 
part, the rocks and forest cast their cool, dark 
shadows. And as our canoe shot in upon its trans- 
parent bosom, I could not help joining in my 
Poyer boy's shout of joy. Even " El Moro" flut- 
tered his bright wings, and screamed in sympathe- 
tic glee. A few vigorous strokes of the paddles, 
and our canoe drove up half its length on the 
sandy shore, the sharp pebbles grating pleasantly 
beneath its keel. For the present, at least, I had 
done with lagoons and rivers, and a new excite- 
ment awaited me among the giddy steeps and un- 
tracked solitudes of the mountains. Farewell now 
to the cramped canoe, and the eternal succession 
of low and tangled banks ; and ho, for the free 
limb and the expanding chest of the son of the 
forest ! 

With glad alacrity, my companions and myself 
set to work to form an encampment on the clean 
dry sand. Then came Antonio, laden with the 
golden clusters of the plantain, while the spear of 



228 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

the Poyer darted down in the clear waters of the 
pool with unfailing skill. The rousing fire, the 
murmur of the mountain-torrents, and the distant 
cry of the fierce black tiger, the satisfied sense of 
having safely accomplished an arduous undertak- 
ing, high anticipations of new adventures, and the 
consciousness of being the first white man who had 
ever trusted himself in these unknown fastnesses 
— all these, joined to the contagious joy of my 
faithful companions, combined to give the keenest 
edge and zest to that night's enjoyment. In my 
darkest hours, its recollection comes over my soul 
like a beam of sunlight through the rifts of a 
clouded sky — " a joy forever/' Blessed memory, 
which enables us to live over again the delights of 
the past, and gives an eternal solace to the cheer- 
ful mind ! 

That night I made a formal present of the canoe 
and its appurtenances to my Poyer boy, and we 
selected such articles as were indispensable to us, 
leaving the rest to be sent for by the Indians when 
we should reach the village. My purpose was to 
commence our march at dawn on the following 
day. But in the morning I arose with one of my 
feet so swollen and painful that I could neither put 
on my boot nor walk, except with great difficulty. 
The cause was, outwardly, very trifling. During 
the previous day the water in the Tirolas had been 
so shallow that it frequently became necessary to 
get out of the canoe and lighten it, in order to pass 
the various rapids. I had therefore taken off my 
boots, and gone into the water with my naked 
feet. I remember stepping on a rolling stone, 
slipping off, and bruising my ankle. The hurt 
was, however, so slight, that I did not give it a 



AN ACCIDENT. 229 

second thought. But, from this trifling cause, my 
foot and ankle were now swollen to nearly double 
their natural size, and the prosecution of my jour- 
ney, for the time being, was rendered impossible. 
Under the tropic, serious consequences often fol- 
low from these slight causes. I have known tetanus 
to result from a little wound, of the size of a pea, 
made by extracting the bag of a nzgua or chigoe, 
which had burrowed in the foot ! 

The skill of my companions was at once put in 
requisition. They made a poultice of ripe plan- 
tains baked in the ashes, and mixed with cocoa-nut 
oil, which was applied hot to the affected parts. 
This done, our canoe was hauled up, and an extem- 
pore roof built over it, to protect me from the wea- 
ther, in case it should happen to change for the 
worse. I passed a fretful night, the pain being 
very great, and the swelling extending higher and 
higher, until it had reached the knee. The appli- 
cations had no perceptible effect. Under these 
circumstances, I determined to send my Poyer to 
his village for assistance. He represented it as 
distant five days, but that it could be reached, by 
forced marches, in four. He objected to leave me, 
but on the second day, my foot being no better, he 
obeyed my positive orders, and started, taking 
with him only a little dried meat, his spear, and 
his bow. 

Antonio now redoubled his attentions, and I 
certainly stood in need of them. The pain kept me 
from slumber, and I became irritable and feverish. 
But no mother could have been more constant, 
more patient, or more wakeful to every want than 
that faithful Indian boy. He exhausted his simple 
remedies, and still the limb became worse, and the 



230 THE MOSQUITO SHOHE. 

unwilling conviction seemed to be forced on his 
mind, that the case was beyond his reach. When, 
in the intervals of the pain, he thought me slum- 
bering, I often saw him consult his talisman with 
undisguised anxiety. He, however, always seemed 
to feel reassured by it, and to become more cheerful. 

On the third day a suppuration appeared at the 
ankle, and the pain and swelling diminished ; and 
on the succeeding morning I probed the wound, 
and, to my surprise, removed a small splinter of 
stone, which had been the cause of all my afflic- 
tion. From that moment my improvement was 
rapid, and I was soon able to move about without 
difficulty. - 

I amused myself much with fishing in the pool, 
in which there were large numbers of an active 
kind of fish, varying from ten to sixteen inches in 
length, of reddish colour, and voracious appetites. 
Toward evening, when the flies settled down near 
the surface, they rose like the trout, and kept the 
pool boiling with their swift leaping after their 
prey. I improved my limited experience in fly- 
fishing at home, to devise impromptu insects, and 
astonished Antonio with that, to him, novel device 
in the piscatory art. These fish, with an occasional 
wild turkey, the latter generally tough and insipid, 
constituted about our only food. Ducks, curlews, 
and snipe, so common in the vicinity of the lagoons, 
were here unknown, and we listened in vain for 
the cry of .the ckachalaca. There were, however, 
numerous birds of song, and of bright plumage, 
but not fit for food. I saw some owls ; and now 
and then a large hawk would settle down sullenly 
on the trees which overhung the pool. Gray 
squirrels also occasionally rustled the branches 
above our heads, but the foliage was so*dense that 



A STEANGE ADVENTURE. 231 

I was only successful in obtaining a single speci- 
men. Once a squadron of monkeys came trooping 
through the tree-tops to rob the plantain-grove, 
but a charge of buck-shot, which brought two of 
them to the ground, was effectual in deterring 
them from a second visit. They were of a small 
variety, body black, face white, and u whiskered 
like a pard/' Antonio cooked one of them in the i 
sand, but he looked so much like a singed baby 
which I once saw taken out of the ruins of a fire, 
that I could not bring myself to taste him. So 
my Indian had an undisputed monopoly of the 
monkey. 

But the most exciting incident, connected with 
our stay on the banks orthe Tirolas, was one which 
I can never recall without going into a fit of laugh- 
ter — although, at the time, I did not regard it as re- 
markably amusing. Among the wild animals most 
common in Central America is the peccary, some- 
times called " Mexican hog/' but best known by 
the Spanish name of Savalino. There is another 
animal, something similar to the peccary, supposed 
to be the common hog run wild, called Javalino by 
the Spaniards, and Waree by the Mosquitos. If not 
indigenous, the latter certainly have multiplied to 
an enormous extent, since they swarm all over the 
more thickly- wooded portions of the country. They 
closely resemble the wild-boar of Europe, and, al- 
though less in size, seem to be equally ferocious. 
They go in droves, and are not at all particular as 
to their food, eating ravenously snakes and reptiles 
of all kinds. They have also a rational relish for 
fruits, and especially for plantains and bananas, 
and would prove a real scourge to the plantations, 
were they always able to break down the stalks sup- 
porting the fruit. Unable to do this, they never- 



232 THE MOSQUITO SHOUE. 

theless pay regular visits to the plantations, in the 
hope of finding a tree blown down, and of feasting 
on the fallen clusters. 

With these intimations as to their character and 
habits, the reader will be better qualified to appre- 
ciate the incident alluded to. It was a pleasant 
afternoon, and I had strolled off with my gun, in the 
direction of the plantain-patch, stopping occasion- 
ally to listen to the clear, flute-like notes of some 
unseen bird, or to watch a brilliant lizard, as it 
flashed across the gray stones. Thus sauntering 
carelessly along, my attention was suddenly arrested 
by a peculiar noise, as if of some animal, or rather 
of many animals engaged in eating. I stopped, and 
peered in every direction to discover the cause, 
when finally my eyes rested upon what I at once 
took to be a pig of most tempting proportions. He 
"was moving slowly, with his nose to the ground, as 
if in search of food. Without withdrawing my gaze, 
I carefully raised my gun, and fired. It was loaded 
with buck-shot, and although the animal fell, he 
rose again immediately, and began to make off. Of 
course I hurried after him, with the view of finish- 
ing my work with my knife — but I had not taken 
ten steps, when it appear- 
ed to me as if every stick, 
stone, and bush had been 
converted into a pig ! 
Hogs rose on all sides, 
with bristling backs, and 
tusks of appalling length. 
I comprehended my dan- 

thetyaf.ee. S er in an instant, and 

had barely time to leap 

into the forks of a low, scraggy tree, before they 




BATTLE OF THE PIGS. 233 

were at its foot. I shall never forget tlie malicious 
look of their little bead-like eyes, as they raved 
around my roosting-place, and snapped ineffectually 
at my heels. Although I felt pretty secure, I dis- 
creetly clambered higher, and, fixing myself firmly 
in my seat, revenged myself by firing a charge of 
bird-shot in the face of the savagest of my assail- 
ants. This insult only excited the brutes the 
more, and they ground their teeth, and frothed 
around the tree in a perfect paroxysm of porcine 
rage. 

I next loaded both barrels of my gun with ball, 
and deliberately shot two others through their 
heads, killing them on the spot, vainly imagining 
that thereby I should disperse the herd. But never 
was man more mistaken. The survivors nosed 
around their dead companions for a moment, and 
then renewed their vicious contemplations of my 
position. Some squatted themselves upon their 
hams, as much as to say that they intended to wait 
for me, and were nowise in a hurry ! Sol loaded 
up again, and slaughtered two more of the largest 
and most spiteful. But, even then, there were no 
signs of retreat ; on the contrary, it seemed to me 
as if reinforcements sprang out of the ground, and 
that my besiegers grew every moment more nume- 
rous ! 

How long this might have lasted, I am unpre- 
pared to say, had not Antonio, alarmed at my 
rapid firing, hastened to my rescue. No sooner did 
my assailants catch sight of his swarthy figure than 
they made after him with a vehement rush. He 
avoided them by leaping upon a rock, and then com- 
menced a most extraordinary and murderous con- 
test. Never did a battalion of veteran soldiers 



234 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

charge upon an enemy -with more steadiness than 
those wild pigs upon the Indian. He was armed 
with only & lance, but every blow brought down a 
porker. Half alarmed lest they should finally over- 
match him, I cheered his exploits, and kept up a 
brisk fire by way of a diversion in his favour. I am 
ashamed to say how many of those pigs we killed ; 
it is, perhaps, enough to add, that it was long after 
dark before the beasts made up their minds to leave 
us uneaten. Audit was with a decided sensation of 
relief that we heard them moving off, until their 
low grunt was lost in the distance. 

At one time, the odds were certainly against us, 
and it seemed not improbable that the artist and 
his adventures might both come to a pitiful and far 
from a poetical end. But fortune favoured, and my 
faithful gun now hangs over my table in boar-tusk 
brackets, triumphal trophies from that bloody field ! 
Instead of being eaten, we ate, wherein consists 
a difference ; but I was ever after wary of the 
ivaree ! 

True to his promise, on the evening of the tenth 
day, my Poyer bounded into our encampment, 
with a loud shout of joy. His friends were behind, 
and he said would reach us in the following after- 
noon. There were five of them, sober, silent men, 
who made their encampment apart from us, and 
whom I vainly endeavoured to engage in conversa- 
tion. They displayed great aptness in packing our 
various articles in net-work sacks, which they 
carried on their backs, supported by bands passing 
around their foreheads. They wore no clothes ex- 
cept the tournou, unless sandals of tapir-hide, 
and a narrow-brimmed hat, braided of palm-bark, 
fall within that denomination. Besides his sack, 



DEPARTURE FROM THE TIROLAS 235 

each man carried a peculiar kind of machete, short 
and curved like a pruning-hook ; only one or two 
had bows. 

It was with real regret that I left our encamp- 
ment beside the bright pool, and abandoned my 
old and now familiar canoe, in the sides of which, 
like a true Yankee, I had carved my name, and the 
dates of my adventures. I turned to loo^ back 
more than once, as we filed away, beneath the 
trees, in the trail leading to the mountains. The 
Indians led the way, while Antonio and myself 
brought up the rear. " El Moro,'-' perched upon 
the tallest pack, shrieked and fluttered his wings, 
occasionally scrambling down to take a mischievous 
bite at the ear of his Indian carrier. Whenever 
he was successful in accomplishing this feat, he 
became superlatively happy and gleeful. In de- 
fault of other amusement, he sometimes suspended 
himself from the netting by a single claw, like a 
dead bird, with drooping wings and dangling head, 
and then suddenly scrambled back again to his 
perch, with triumphant screams. He was a rare 
rollicking bird, that same Moro ! 

For the first day our course followed a line 
nearly parallel with the base of the mountains, 
through a thick and tangled forest. We crossed 
innumerable small and rapid streams of the clearest 
water, sparkling over beds of variously-coloured 
quartz pebbles — for we were now skirting one of 
the great ranges of primitive rocks which form the 
nucleus of the continent. My long confinement 
in the canoe had contributed to disqualify me for 
active exertions, and long before night I became 
much fagged, and would fain have gone into 
camp. But the Indians travelled so tranquilly 



236 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

under their loads, that I was loth to discover 
to them my lack of endurance, and so kept on 
without complaint. In the afternoon our path 
began to ascend, and we gradually emerged from 
the thick and tangled woods into a comparatively 
open forest, which, in turn, gave place to groves 
of scattered pines and oaks, among which we en- 
camped^for the night. 

From our elevated position I could overlook 
the wilderness which we had traversed during the 
day. It was at that season of the year when the 
erythrina puts on its scarlet robe of blossoms, and 
the ceiba clothes itself in flames, in splendid relief 
to the prevailing green. It seemed as if Nature 
held high holiday among these primeval solitudes, 
and arrayed herself only to wanton in the sense of 
her own beauty. Bat while vegetation was thus 
lavishly luxuriant in the valley, behind us the 
mountains rose, stern, steep, and bare. Vainly the 
dark pines, clinging to their sides, sought to veil 
their flinty frown. Wherever a little shelf of the 
rocks supported a scanty bed of soil, there the 
mountain grasses, and the sensitive-plant with its 
amaranthine flower, took root, like kindly thoughts 
in the heart of the hard and worldly man. From 
the gnarled oaks, and even from the unfading 
pines, hung long festoons of gray moss, which 
swayed sadly in the wind. And when the night 
came on, and I lay down beside the fire, beneath 
their shade, they seemed to murmur in a low and 
mournful voice to the passing breeze, which, laden 
with the perfume of the valley, rose with downy 
wings to bear its tributary incense to the skies. 

Morning broke, but dark and gloomily, and 
although we resumed our march, directing our 



" SPIRIT OF TIKE." 237 

course diagonally up the face of the mountain, we 
were obliged to stop before noon, and seek shelter 
under a mass of projecting rocks, from a cold, 
drizzly rain, which now began to fall steadily, with 
every promise of merging in a protracted temporal. 
The clouds ran low, and drifted around and below 
us, in heavy, cheerless volumes, shutting from 
view every object except the pines and stunted 
oaks, in their gray, monastic robes, now saturated 
and heavy from the damp. Stowing our few 
valuables securely under the rocks, we lighted a 
fire, now acceptable not less for its heat than its 
companionship. Its cheerful flame, and the sparkle 
of its embers, revived my drooping spirits, and 
helped to reconcile me to the imprisonment which 
the temporal would be sure to entail. I can rea- 
dily understand how fire commended itself to the 
primitive man as an emblem of purity and power, 
and became the symbol of spirit and those invisible 
essences which pervade the universe. God robed 
himself in flame on Sinai ; in tongues of flame the 
Spirit descended upon the disciples at Jerusalem; 
an eternal fire burned upon the altars of the vir- 
ginal Vesta, and in the Persian Pyrothea ; to fire 
was committed the sacrifice of propitiation, and by 
its ordeal was innocence and purity made manifest. 
Among the American Indians it was held in espe- 
cial reverence. The Delawares and the Iroquois 
had festivals in its honour, and regarded it as the 
first parent of the Indian nations. The Cherokees 
paid their devotions to the " great, beneficent, su- 
preme, holy Spirit of Fire/'' whose home was in 
the heavens, but who dwelt also on earth, in the 
hearts of " the unpolluted people." And even the 
rnde Indians who huddled with me beneath the 



238 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

protecting rocks in the heart of the wilderness, 
never commenced their simple meals without first 
throwing a small portion of their food in the fire, 
as an offering to the protecting Spirit of Life, of 
which it is the genial symbol. 

The temporal lasted for three days, during which 
time it rained almost incessantly, and it was withal 
so cold, that a large and constant fire was neces- 
sary to our comfort. At the end of that time the 
clouds began to lift, and the sun broke through 
the rifts, and speedily dispersed the watery legions. 
But the rocks were slippery with the wet, and the 
earth, wherever it was found among the rocks, was 
sodden and unstable, rendering our advance alike 
disagreeable and dangerous. We remained, there- 
fore, until the morning of the fourth day, when we 
resumed our march. 



MOUNTAIN SCENE&Y. 



239 



CHAPTER XV. 







OR a day and a half we con- 
tinued to ascend, now skirting 
dizzy precipices, and next steal- 
ing along cautiously beneath 
beetling rocks, which hung 
heavily on the brow of the mountain. The fea- 
tures of the great valley which we had left were 
no longer distinguishable. What we had regarded 
as mountains there, now shrunk into simple undu- 
lations, like folds in some silken robe, thrown 
loosely on the ground. There was no longer a 
foothold for the pines, and their places were sup- 
plied by low bushes, thrusting their roots deep in 
the clefts, and clinging like vines to the faces of 
the rocks. 

Finally, to my great joy, we reached the crest 
of the mountain. Upon the north, however, it fell 



240 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

away in a series of broad steps or terraces, lower 
and lower, until in the dim distance it subsided in 
the vast alluvial plains bordering on the Bay of 
Honduras, the waters of which could be distin- 
guished like a silver rim, on the edge of the 
horizon. 

The air, on these high plateaus, was chill, and 
only the hardy mountain grasses and the various 
forms of cactus found root in their thin and sterile 
soil. The latter were numerous and singular. 
Some appeared above the earth, simple, fluted 
globes,radiating with spines, and having in their 
centre a little tuft of crimson flowers. Others were 
mere articulated prisms, tangled in clumps, and 
also bristling with prickles. But the variety known 
in Mexico as the nopal was most abundant, and 
grew of tree-like proportions. 

Few as were these forms of vegetable life, animals 
and birds were fewer still. An occasional deer 
contemplated us at a distance, and a little animal, 
similar to the prairie-dog of the West, tumbled hur- 
riedly into his hole as we approached his solitary 
covert. In places, the disintegrated quartz rock 
appeared above the surface for wide distances, 
reflecting back the rays of the sun, which seemed 
to pour down with unwonted and blinding bril- 
liancy, from a cloudless sky. I could scarcely 
comprehend the sudden change from the region 
of the lagoons, where the overladen earth sweltered 
beneath forests teeming with life, and the air was 
oppressed with the cloying odours of myriads of 
flowers, and this stern region, ribbed with rock, 
where Nature herself seemed paralyzed, and silence 
held an eternal reign. 

It was a singular spectacle, that little troop of 



WASHING GOLD. 241 

ours, as it hurried rapidly across these mountain 
wastes, or huddled closely together, when night 
came on, around a scanty fire, made of wood which 
the Poyer boy, with wise prevision, had deposited 
there, on his return to the Tirolas. As we de- 
scended from terrace to terrace, we came again 
into the region of pines and oaks, which, in their 
turn, gave place to forests of other varieties of 
trees, interrupted by strips of open or savannah 
lands. We early struck a little stream, which, I 
observed, we followed constantly. It proved to 
be the branch of the great river Patuca, upon 
which the Poyer village is situated, and bore the 
musical name of Guallambre. At night, when we 
encamped, the Poyer boy took a calabash, and, 
motioning me to follow, led the way down the 
stream to a little sand-bar. Scooping up some of 
the sand in his bowl, and then filling it with water, 
he whirled it rapidly, so that a feathery stream of 
mingled sand and water flew constantly over its 
edge. He continued this operation until the sand 
was nearly exhausted, and then filled the bowl 
again. After repeating this process several times, 
he grew more careful, balancing the bowl skilfully, 
and stopping occasionally to pick out the pebbles, 
which, owing to their weight, had not been carried 
over by the water. 

I understood at once that this was the primi- 
tive mode of washing gold, and was, therefore, not 
greatly surprised when, after the process was com- 
plete, the Poyer showed me a little deposit of gold, 
in grains, at the bottom of the calabash, equal to 
about a fourth of an ounce in weight. He then 
told me that all the streams, flowing down the 
mountains toward the north, carried gold in their 

E 



242 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

sands, and that the latter were frequently washed 
"by his people, to obtain the means of purchasing 
such articles of civilized manufacture as they might 
need from the Spaniards of Olancho, and the traders 
who visited the coast.* 

On the eighth day from our encampment on the 
Tirolas, after a laborious march among heavily- 
wooded hills, following, for most of the distance, 
the bed of the Quallambre, now swollen to a con- 
siderable stream, we reached the Poyer village. I 
say tillage, for such it was, in fact, although com- 
posed of but a single house ! This was a substan- 
tial structure, forty paces in length, and ten broad, 
supported on stout posts, and heavily thatched with 
palm-leaves. The fronts and ends were open, but 
along the back extended a series of little "apart- 
ments, separated from each other by partitions of 
the outer shells of the cabbage-palm, which, when 
split and pressed flat, make good substitutes for 
boards. These were the dormitories, or private 
apartments of the mated or married occupants, and 
of the girls. The places for the boys were on ele- 
vated platforms, beneath the roof. A row of stones 

* The whole district of country lying on the north flank 
of the mountains which bound the valley of the Rio Wanks, 
in the same direction, enjoys a wide celebrity for its rich 
deposits of gold. There is hardly a stream of which the 
sands do not yield a liberal proportion of that precious 
metal. Yet, strange to say, the washing is confined almost 
exclusively to the Indians, who seek to obtain no more than 
is just sufficient to supply their limited wants. Among the 
reduced, or, as they are called, christianized Indians, in 
the valley of Olancho, the women only wash the gold for a 
few hours on Sunday morning. With the supply thus ob- 
tained they proceed to the towns, attend mass, and make 
their petty purchases^ devoting the rest of the week to the 
fullest enjoyment of the dolcefar niente. 



THE POYER TILLAGE. 243 

set firmly in the ground, defined the outline of the 
building. Within them the earth was elevated a 
foot or more, to preserve it dry and unaffected by 
the rains. The position was admirably chosen, on 
a kind of step or shelf of a considerable hill, which 
rose behind, clothed with dense verdure, while in 
front it subsided rapidly to the stream, here tum- 
bling noisily among the rocks, and yonder circling, 
bubble- sprinkled, in dark pools, beneath the trees. 
The ground around was beaten smooth and hard, 
and numbers of tamed curassows stalked to and 
fro, gravely elevating and depressing their crests ; 
while within the building and on its roof, nume- 
rous parrots and macaws waddled after each other, 
or exercised their voices in loud and discordant 
cries. There were also a few pigs and ducks, all 
appearing to be as much at home beneath the roof, 
as were the naked Indian babies, with whom they 
mingled on terms of perfect equality. 

My boy had gone ahead, and had returned to 
meet us in company with two old men, who were 
the lawgivers of the establishment, and who reve- 
rentially touched my knee with their foreheads, by 
way of salutation. They said but a single word, 
which I suppose was one of welcome, and then led 
the way silently to the house. At one end a space 
had been recently fenced off, containing two new 
crickeries, within which my various articles were 
deposited, and which were at once indicated to me 
as my special apartment. 

All the proceedings had been conducted so 
rapidly, that I was fairly installed in my novel 
quarters before I was aware of it. Our arrival 
had evidently been anticipated, for almost imme- 
diately the women brought us hot rolls of a species 



244 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

of bread made of ground cassava, baked in the 
ashes, with the addition of some stewed flesh 
of the ivaree, so tender and savoury that it 
would have commended itself to a more fastidious 
appetite than mine. I made a prodigious meal, 
to the palpable satisfaction of my faithful Poyer, 
who kept every calabash heaped up with food. 

As I have said, the Indians of Central America 
differ widely from their fiercer brethren of our 
country, not less in their modes of life than in all 
their social and civil relations. This Poyer com- 
munity afforded an example of a purely patriarchal 
organization, in which the authority of paternity 
and of age was recognized in the fullest degree. 
Every evening the old men, each taking a lighted 
brand, gathered within a small circle of stones, at 
one corner of the house, and there deliberated upon 
the affairs of the community, and settled its pro- 
ceedings for the following day. In these confer- 
ences neither the women nor young men were 
permitted to take part. All the labour of the 
community was performed in common, and all 
shared equally in the results. In one or two of 
the recesses which I have described were some 
ancient and helpless crones, who were treated with 
all the care and tenderness of children. The whole 
establishment, according to the best of my count, 
consisted of about one hundred and forty persons, 
young and old, of whom thirty-five were full- 
grown men. 

In figure the Poyers or Payas are identical 
with the Towkas and Woolwas, except more mus- 
cular — the consequence, probably, of their cooler 
climate and severer labour. The women were less 
shy, perhaps from their more social mode of living. 



POYEE PRACTICES, 245 

In common with those of the coast, they go naked 
to the waist, whence depends a skirt of striped 
cotton cloth, reaching to the knees. Their hair is 
invariably parted in front, and held in place by a 
cotton band, bound tightly around the forehead. 
They were always occupied. Some, squatting on 
the ground, spun the native cotton, of which all 
the Indians raise small quantities, while others 
wove it into cloth. Both processes were rude but 
ingenious. The spindle consists of a small ball of 
heavy wood, through which passes a thin shaft, the 
whole resembling an overgrown top, the lower end 
resting in a calabash, to prevent it from toppling 
over. Some of the cotton is attached to this spin- 
dle, which is twirled between the thumb and fore- 
finger. While it is in motion the thread is care- 
fully drawn out from a pile of cotton in the lap of 
the spinner. When it stops the thread is wound 
on the spindle, and the same process repeated. The 
process of weaving was certainly a simple one, but 
after several unsatisfactory attempts to describe it, 
I am obliged to confess my inability to do so in an 
intelligible manner. 

But a principal occupation of the women was the 
grinding of maize for tortillas, and of preparing the 
cassava. For these purposes there were a number 
of flat stones elevated on blocks, which were called 
by the Mexican name of metlatl. These were 
somewhat concave on the upper surface, in which 
fitted a stone roller, worked by hand. With this 
the maize was speedily ground to a fine consistence ; 
the paste was then made into small cakes, which 
were baked rapidly on broad earthen platters, sup- 
ported over brisk fires. The cakes require to be 
eaten when crisp and hot, in order to be relished ; 



246 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

for when cold they become heavy and tasteless. 
Upon these stones they also crushed the stalks of 
the indigenous sugar-cane to extract the juice, 
which, mixed with powdered wild cacao, is allowed 
to ferment, constituting an agreeable and exhila- 
rating beverage, called ulung. 

Every morning all the girls went down to the 
stream to bathe, which they did without any over- 
strained affectation of modesty ; but the mothers 
and old women always sought a spot secluded from 
the general gaze. It was only when thus engaged 
that the girls were at all playful. They dashed the 
water in each other's faces, and sought to drag each 
other under the surface, in the deep pools, where 
they swam about as mermaids are supposed to do, 
and as if the water was their native element. At all 
other times they were as distant and demure as the 
daintiest damsels in all England. 

The Poyers are certainly a provident people. 
Although there were no signs of plantations in the 
vicinity of their establishments, yet, at various 
points in the neighbourhood, where there occurred 
patches of rich interval land, were small fields of 
sugar-cane, plantains, squashes, maize, yucas, and 
cassava, all protected by fences, and attended with 
the utmost care. From every beam of the house 
depended bunches of plantains and bananas, huge 
yams, and dried flesh of various kinds, but chiefly 
that of the ivaree, while closely packed, on plat- 
forms under the roof, were a few bales of sarsapa- 
rilla, which I found they were accustomed to carry 
down to the coast for purposes of barter. 

The Poyers or Payas, as I have intimated, are 
eminently agriculturists, and although they some- 
times follow the chase, it is not as a principal 



NEW MODE OF EISHING. 24f 

means of support. Nor is it followed from any 
fantastic notion of excitement or adventure, but in 
a direct and downright manner, which, is the very- 
reverse of what is called "sport." I had an example 
of this in their mode of fishing, which quite 
astonished all my previous notions on that subject, 
and which evinced to me, furthermore, that fishes, 
although cold-blooded, are not exempt from having 
their heads turned, provided they are approached 
in a proper manner. 

My Poy er boy, who was unwearyin g in his devices 
to entertain and interest me, one day conceived a 
brilliant idea, which he hastened to communicate 
to the old men, who held a sober monexico, or 
council upon it, and resolved that there should be 
made a grand demonstration upon the fish, for the 
double purpose of amusing the stranger, and of re- 
plenishing the supplies. The resolution, taken at 
night, was carried into execution in the morning. 
While a portion of the men proceeded down the 
stream to construct a temporary weir of boughs, 
others collected a large quantity of a species of 
vine called bequipe, which is common in the woods, 
has a rank growth^is full of juice, and emits a pun- 
gent odour. These vines were cut in sections, 
crushed between stones, and placed in large earthen 
pots, left to steep over a slow fire. 

I watched all the operations with curious interest* 
About the middle of the afternoon they were com- 
pleted ; the pots containing the decoctions were 
duly shouldered, and we all started up the stream. 
At the distance of perhaps a quarter of a mile we 
met a number of men wading down the channel, 
and beating the water with long poles, by way of 
concentrating the fish in the direction of the weirs. 



248 THE MOSQriTO SHORE. 

Here the pots were simultaneously emptied in the 

stream, which the contents tinged of a brownish 
hue. L'p to this moment the various preparations 
had greatly puzzled me, but now I discovered that 
the purpose of the decoction was to poison, or 
rather to intoxicate the fish, which it did effec- 
tively ; for. as we proceeded down the stream, 
numbers rose struggling to the surface, vainly en- 
deavouring to stem the current, which swept them 
towards the weirs. 

At every step they became more numerous, until 
the whole stream was thronged with them. Some 
were quite stupefied, and drifted along helplessly, 
while others made spasmodic efforts to resist the 
potent influence of the bequipe. But, sooner or 
later, they, too, drifted down, with a faint wagging 
of then tails, which seemed to express that they 
fairly i% gave it up." 

The weir had been built at the foot of a consi- 
derable pool, which was literally covered with the 
stupefied fishes. There were many varieties of 
them, and the Indians stationed at that point were 
already engaged in picking out the largest and 
best, tossing the others over the weir, to recover 
their 1 senses at their leisure, in the clear water be- 
low. As soon as the fish were thrown ashore they 
were taken charge of by the women, who cleaned 
them on the spot, and with wonderful dexterity. 
They were afterwards taken to the house, rubbed 
with salt, and smoke-dried over fires, after the 
mannei v whichlhave already described as practised 
by the Sambos at Pearl Cay Lagoon. 

It would naturally be supposed that a decoction 
so powerful as to affect the water of a large stream, 



GROWING FANCIES. 249 

would also damage the fish, and unfit them for 
food. But such is not the case. The effect seems 
to be precisely that of temporary intoxication, and 
the fish, if left in the water, would soon recover 
from its influence. 

Time passed pleasantly among the hospitable 
Poyers, and I was treated with such ceremonious 
deference and respect, that I began to think that a 
far worse fortune might befall me, than that of be- 
coming a member of this peaceful and prosperous 
community, on the banks of the Guallambre. In 
fact, I finally detected myself speculating upon the 
possibility of promoting one of the dark Naiads, 
whom I every morning watched sporting in the 
river, to the occupancy of the vacant crickery in 
my apartment. And then the fact that there were 
two crickeries — was not that intended as a delicate 
suggestion on the part of the Poyers, whose ideas 
of hospitality might be less circumscribed than my 
own ? The thought that they might imagine me 
dull of apprehension, and slow to improve upon a 
hint, grew upon me with every new and nearer 
contemplation of the Naiads, and I began seriously 
to think of submitting a formal proposition on the 
subject, to the monexico. But men's fates often 
hinge upon trifling circumstances, and had I not 
detected a deepening shadow of anxiety on the face 
of Antonio, I might have become a patriarch in 
Poyerdom ! Who knows ? 

Early after our arrival at the Poyer village, I 
was surprised to observe Antonio in close consul- 
tation with the old men, in the nightly monexico. 
They seemed to be deeply interested in his com- 
munications, and I imagined that they became 
daily more thoughtful. But now, whatever pur- 



250 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

pose Antonio might have had in view, it appeared 
to have been accomplished. 

So, one evening, I called him aside, and an- 
nounced that I was ready to depart. He grasped 
my hand, pressed it to his heart, and said, in a 
tone of emotion — " The voice of the tiger is loud 
in the mountain, and the sons of the Holy Men 
are waiting by the lake of the Itzaes I" 

I comprehended the latent meaning of these 
poetical words, for I had already seen enough of 
Antonio to discover that his absence from Yucatan 
was in some way connected with a concerted move- 
ment of the aborigines, and that now some crisis 
was approaching which drew him irresistibly to- 
wards his native land. Resolved not to be instru- 
mental in delaying him for an hour unnecessarily, 
and half repenting that I had detained him so long 
— for his attachment and gratitude were too real 
to permit him to abandon me in the wilderness — 
I at once communicated to the old men my inten- 
tion of leaving. They took it under serious deli- 
beration, which resulted in their dispatching some 
men before daybreak, on the following morning, to 
prepare a canoe for our descent of the Patuca. 
The canoes, I found, were not kept on the Gual- 
lambre, for two reasons : first, that its course is 
circuitous, and second, and principally, because it 
runs through the settlements of the Spaniards of 
Olancho, with whom the Indians avoid all relations 
which are not absolutely necessary. Their boats 
were therefore kept half a day's journey distant, 
beyond a chain of high hills, on a large tributary 
of the Patuca, called Amacwass. 

I verily believe I would have been a welcome 
guest among my Poyer friends, so long as I might 



DEPARTURE FOR THE COAST. 251 

have chosen to remain; yet they did not urge me 
to stay, but hastened to help me off, as if my inti- 
mations were to be regarded as commands. 

During the day a large quantity of provisions 
were dispatched to the boat, and at night the mo- 
nexico selected two men, and my old companion 
the Poyer boy, to accompany us to the coast. We 
took our departure early in the morning, while it 
was yet dark, without creating the slightest dis- 
turbance in the establishment. Only the old men, 
who had come out to meet us two weeks before, 
now went ahead with large brands of fire, to light 
the way; but, when the day broke, they again 
touched their foreheads to my knee, and returned, 
leaving us to prosecute our journey alone. 

We reached the Amacwass in the afternoon, and 
found a boat, twice as large as the canoe in which 
we had navigated the lagoons, all prepared for in- 
stant departure. A space near the middle was 
covered with a thatch of palm branches, to protect 
me from the sun, and altogether it promised a de- 
gree of comfort and convenience to which I had 
been a stranger, in my previous voy agings. 

We embarked at once, and dropped rapidly 
down with the current, the Indians only using 
their paddles to direct the boat, and keep it clear 
of the rocks which obstructed the channel. The 
water was wonderfully clear, everywhere revealing 
the bottom with the greatest distinctness. The 
banks were covered with a heavy forest, in which 
the eye was often arrested by the stately forms of 
the mahogany-tree, with its massive foliage, rising 
high above the general level ; or by the still taller 
and more graceful plumes of the palmetto-royal. 
Vegetation seemed to have a more vigorous, but 



252 THE MOSqUlTO SHOEE. 

less redundant life, than on the Mosquito Shore ; 
that is to say, it assumed more compact and more 
decided forms, occasioned, probably, by the com- 
parative absence of jungle, not less than by pecu- 
liarities of soil. 

There was something exhilarating in our rapid 
course; and the voice of the waters, here murmur- 
ing over a pebbly bottom, and yonder breaking 
hoarsely over the obstructing rocks, reminded me 
of my distant home, and recalled the happy hours 
which I had spent in the sole companionship of 
its merry mountain streams. It was, after all, by 
the standard of my youthful experiences, that I 
measured my present enjoyments; and it was rare 
indeed, even in my most cheerful moods, that the 
comparison was favourable to the latter. The 
senses blunted by years, and the memory crowded 
with events, fails to appreciate so keenly or record 
so deeply the experiences of middle life, and pure 
happiness, after all, dwells chiefly in the remem- 
brance of the distant past. 

As soon as the shadows of evening began to set- 
tle over the narrow valley of the Amacwass, we 
halted, and made our camp, maintaining through- 
out the night a great fire, not less for its cheerful 
influences than for protection against the fierce 
black tigers, or pumas, which abound on this flank 
of the mountains. We heard their screams, now 
near, now distant, to which the monkeys responded 
with alarmed and anxious cries, so like those of 
human beings in distress, as more than once to 
startle me from my slumbers. These caricatures 
on humanity seemed to be more numerous here 
than further down the coast, and we often saw 
large troops of them in the overhanging trees, 



U THE GATEWAY OP EELL. M 253 

where they gravely contemplated us as vre drifted 
by. Occasionally one, more adventurous than the 
rest, would slide down a dependent limb or vine, 
scold at us vehemently for a moment, and then 
scramble back again hurriedly, as if alarmed at his 
own audacity. 

On the second day the current of the Amacwass 
became more gentle, and just before night we shot 
out of its waters into the large and comparatively 
majestic Patuca. Our course down this stream was 
not so rapid. In places the current was so slight 
that it became necessary to use our paddles ; while 
elsewhere the greatest caution was requisite to 
guide our boat safely over the numerous chiflones 
or rapids by which it was interrupted. But these, 
though difficult, and in some instances dangerous, 
sunk into insignificance when compared with what 
is called El Portal del Infierno, or the " Gateway 
of HehV ; My Poyer boy had several times alluded 
to it, as infinitely more to be dreaded than any 
of the passes which we had yet encountered, 
and as one which would be likely to excite my 
alarm. 

We reached it on the day after we had entered 
the Patuca. As we advanced, the hills began to 
approach each other, and high rocks shut in the 
river upon both sides. Huge detached masses also 
rose in the middle of the stream, around which the 
water whirled and eddied in deep, dark gulfs, suck- 
ing down the frayed and shattered trunks of trees, 
from which the branches had long before been torn 
by rude contact with the rocks, only to reject them 
again from their depths, far below. The velocity 
of our boat increased, and I became apprehensive 
in view of the rushing current and rocky shores ; 



254 



THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 



nor was the feeling diminished, when the men 
commenced to lash the various articles contained 
in the boat by thongs to the sides, since that pre- 
caution implied a pos- 
sibility of our being 
overset. Antonio urg- 
ed me to strip, which 
I did, in preparation 
for the worst contin- 
gency. Meanwhile the 
stream narrowed more 
and more, and the 
rocks towered higher 
and higher above our 
heads. The water no 
longer dashed and 
chafed against the 
shores, but, dark and 
glassy, shot through 
the narrow gorge with 
'a low hissing sound, 
more fearful than its 
previous turbulence. I 
involuntarily held my 
breath, grasping firm- 
ly the sides of the 
boat, and watching 
anxiou sly the d ark 
forms of the Indians, 
as, silently, and with 
impassible features, 
they guided the frail 
slab upon which our 
lives depended. On, on we swept, between cliffs 
so lofty and beetling as to shut out the sun, and 




' GATEWAY OF HELL.' 



" PORTAL DEL IXFIEUXO." 255 

involve us in twilight obscurity. I looked up, and, 
at a dizzy height, could only trace a narrow strip 
of sky, like the cleft in the roof of some deep 
cavern. A shudder ran through every limb, and I 
could well understand why this terrible pass had 
been named the " Mouth of Hell \" He must have 
been a bold man who ventured first within its hor- 
rid jaws ! 

I drew a long breath of relief when the chasm 
began to widen, and the current to diminish in 
violence. But it was probably then that we were 
in the greatest danger, for the bed of the stream 
was fall of angular rocks which had been swept 
out from the canon, to be heaped up here in wild 
disorder. A misdirected stroke of a single paddle 
"would have thrown our frail boat upon them, and 
dashed it into a thousand pieces. 

Before night, however, we had entirely passed the 
rapids, and were drifting quietly over the smooth, 
deep reaches of the river — the bubbles on its surface, 
and the flecks of white foam clinging to its banks, 
alone indicating the commotion which raged above. 

There are many legends connected with the 
" Portal del Infierno." Within it the Indians ima- 
gine there dwells a powerful spirit, who is some- 
times seen darting through its gloomiest recesses, in 
the form of a large bird. That night, each of the 
Poyers poured a portion of his allowance of chicha 
in the stream, as a thank-offering to the spirit of 
the river. This, and the offerings made to fire, 
were the only religious rites which I witnessed 
while in their country ; but it is not thence to be 
inferred that they are without religious forms, for 
it is precisely these that they are most careful to 
conceal from the observation of the stranger. 



256 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

As we proceeded down the river, and entered the 
alluvions of the coast, both the stream and its 
banks underwent an entire change. The latter be- 
came comparatively low, and frequently, for long 
distances, were wholly covered with feathery palms, 
unrelieved by any other varieties of trees. Snags 
and stranded logs obstructed the channel, and sand- 
bars appeared here and there, upon which the hide- 
ous alligators stretched themselves in the sun, in 
conscious security. Occasionally we observed swells 
or ridges of savannah land, like those on the Mos- 
quito shore, supporting pines and acacias. But 
the general character of the country was that of a 
broad alluvion, in places so low as to be overflowed 
during floods — rich in soil, and adapted to the cul- 
tivation of all the tropical staples. 

On the seventh day from the Poyer village, we 
reached a point where the river divides, forming a 
delta, the principal channel leading off to the sea 
direct, and the other conducting to a large lagoon, 
called Brus by the Spaniards, where the Caribs of 
the coast have their establishments. We took 
the latter, and the Indians plied their paddles with 
increased energy, as if anxious to bring our tedious 
voyage to a close. 



BETJS LAGOON. 



257 



CHAPTEU XVI. 




LTHOUG-H we had previously 
moored our boat with the ap- 
proach of darkness, yet this 
night the Indians kept on 
their coarse. The river was 
1 now wide and still, and the 
banks low and tropical. With the fading light of 
day, the sea-breeze set in, fresh and pungent, from 
the ocean. Fire-flies sparkled like stars along the 
shore, and only the night-hawk, swooping down 
after its prey, startled the ear of night with its 
rushing pinions. 



258 THE MOSQUITO SHOHE. 

The niglit advanced, and the steady dip of the 
paddles soothed me into a slumber, from which I 
was only roused by the noise of drums and the 
sound of revelry. I leaped up suddenly, with some 
vague recollections of the orgies at Sandy Bay, 
which, however, were soon dispelled, and I found 
that we had already passed Brus Lagoon, and were 
now close to its northern shore, where the Carib 
town is situated. There were many lights and 
fires, and shouts and laughter rang out from the 
various groups which were gathered around them. 
I perceived at once that some kind of a festival 
was going on, and had some hesitation in ventur- 
ing on shore. But I was reassured by the conduct 
of the Indians, who paddled the boat up to the 
beach with the utmost confidence. Before it 
touched the sand, however, we were hailed by some 
one on the shore, in a language which I did not un- 
derstand. A moment after, the hail was repeated 
in another dialect, to which my Poyer boy replied, 
with some kind of explanation. " Advance, friend V* 
was the prompt response of the challenger, who 
stepped into the water, and lent a hand to drag up 
the canoe, 

I scrambled forward, and leaped ashore, when I 
was immediately addressed by the same voice which 
had hailed us, with, " Very welcome to Brus !" 
My first impression was, that I had fallen in with 
Europeans, but I soon saw that my new friend was 
a pure Indian. He was dressed in white panta- 
loons and jacket, and wore a sash around his waist, 
and, altogether, looked like a good fellow. He at 
once invited me to his house, explaining, as we 
went along, that the village was in the midst of a 
festival, held annually on the occasion of the re- 



WELC03IE TO EEL'S. 259 

turn of the mahogany-cutters from the various 
works, both on this coast and in the vicinity of 
Belize. The next day, he said, they expected a 
large reinforcement of their numbers, and that then 
the festivities would be at their height. 

Meantime, we had reached the house of our nev7 
friend, whose impromptu hospitality I made no 
hesitation in accepting. It was empty; for all 
hands were occupied with the festival. Our host 
stirred up the embers of a fire, which were smoul- 
dering beneath a little roof in front of the hut, 
and hastened away to call his family. 

While I awaited his return, I smiled to think 
what a free and easy way I had contracted since 
leaving Jamaica, of making myself at home under 
all circumstances, and with all sorts of people. No 
letters of introduction, given with hesitation, and 
received with doubt. And then, the happy excite- 
ment of an even chance whether one's welcome may 
€ome in the form of a bullet or a breakfast ! These 
things will do to tell my friend Sly, I soliloquized, 
and fell into a reverie, which was only broken by 
the return of my host, accompanied by one of his 
wives — a very pretty and well-dressed Carib wo- 
man, her hair neatly braided on the top of her head, 
and stuck full of flowers. Although it was now 
past midnight, she insisted on preparing something 
for us to eat, and then returned to participate in 
the dances and rejoicings which were going on in 
the centre of the village. 

I would have accompanied my host there also, 
had it not been for an incident which, for that night 
at least, banished my idle curiosity. While occu- 
pied in arranging my personal baggage in our new 
quarters, I had observed my Poyer companion 



260 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

standing apart, and regarding me with an earnest 
and thoughtful expression. I was several times on 
the point of speaking to him, and as often had my 
attention diverted by other circumstances. Finally^ 
however, I turned to seek him, but he was gone. I 
inquired of Antonio what had become of him, but 
he could give me no information ; and, a little con- 
cerned himself, he started for the scene of the re- 
velry, under the impression that he might have 
been attracted thither. He returned with a hasty 
step, and reported that neither the Poyer nor his 
companions were to be found. TTe hurried to the 
shore, where we had left the boat, but that also 
was gone. The reader may, perhaps, smile when 
I say that I strained my eyes to penetrate the 
darkness, if only to catch one glimpse of my Poyer 
boy ; and that I wept when I turned back to the 
village. And when, on the following day, as I un- 
rolled my scanty wardrobe, a section of bamboo- 
cane, heavy with gold-dust, rolled upon the floor, 
I felt not only that I had lost a friend, but that 
beneath the swarthy breast of that untutored In- 
dian boy there beat a heart capable of the most 
delicate generosity. Be sure, my faithful friend, 
far away in your mountain home, that your pre- 
sent shall never be dishonoured ! Washed from 
the virginal sands, and wrought into the symbol of 
our holy faith, it rests above a heart as constant as 
thine own; and, inscribed with the single word "Fi- 
delity,^ it shall descend to my childien, as an evi- 
dence that Faith and Friendship are heavenly 
flowers, perennial in every clime ! 

The Caribs (who pronounce their own name 
Caribees), those Dyacks of the Antilles, had always 
been associated in my mind with everything that 
was savage in character and habits, and I was 



ABOUT THE CARIBS. 261 

astonished to find that they had really considerable 
pretensions to civilization. It should be observed, 
however, that they are here an intruded people, and 
that, first and last, they have had a large associa- 
tion with the whites. They now occupy the coast 
from the neighbourhood of the port of Truxillo to 
Carataska Lagoon, whence they have gradually 
expelled the Sambos or Mosquitoes. Their original 
seat was San Vincent, one of what are called the 
Leeward Islands, whence they were deported in a 
body, by the English, in 1798, and landed upon the 
then unoccupied island of Roatan, in the Bay of 
Honduras. Their position there was an unsatis- 
factory one, and they eagerly accepted the invita- 
tion of the Spanish authorities to remove to the 
mainland. 

Positions were assigned them in the vicinity of 
Truxillo, whence they have spread rapidly to the 
eastward. All along the coast, generally near the 
mouths of the various rivers with which it is 
fringed, they have their establishments or towns. 
These are never large, but always neat, and well 
supplied with provisions, especially vegetables, 
which are cultivated with great care, and of the 
Mghest perfection. They grow rice, cassava, sugar- 
cane, a little cotton, plantains, squashes, oranges, 
mangoes, and every variety of indigenous fruits, 
besides an abundance of hogs, ducks, turkeys, and 
fowls, of all of which they export considerable 
quantities to Truxillo, and even to Belize, a dis- 
tance of several hundred miles. 

The physical differences which existed among 
them at San Vincent are still marked. Most are 
pure Indians, not large, but muscular, with a ruddy 
skin, and long, straight hair. These were called 
the Bed or Yellow Caribs. Another portion are 



262 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

very dark, with curly hair, and betraying unmis- 
takeably a large infusion of negro blood, and are 
called the Black Caribs. They are taller than the 
Red Caribs, and well-proportioned. They con- 
trast with the latter, also, in respect of character, 
being more vehement and mercurial. The pure 
Caribs are constant, industrious, quiet, and orderly. 
They all profess the Catholic religion, although 
observing very few of its rites^ except during their 
visits to the Spanish towns, where all their children 
are scrupulously taken to be baptized. 

I was agreeably astonished, when I awoke on the 
morning after our arrival at Brus, to find a cup of 
coffee, well served in a china cup, awaiting my 
attentions. And when I got up, I was still further 
surprised to observe a table spread with a snow- 
white cloth, in the principal apartment of the 
house, where my host welcomed me with a genuine 
cc good morning." I expressed my surprise at his 
acquaintance with the English, which seemed to 
flatter him, and he ran through the same saluta- 
tion in Spanish, Creole-French, Carib, and Mos- 
quito. Whereupon I told him he was a " perambu- 
lating polyglot," which he did not understand, 
although he affected to laugh at the remark. 

I had now an opportunity to make my observa- 
tions on the village of Brus and its people. The 
town is situated on a narrow, sandy tongue of 
land, lying between the sea and the lagoon. This 
strip of land supports a magnificent forest of cocoa- 
palms, relieved only by a few trees of gigantic size 
and dense foliage, which, I suppose, must be akin 
to the banyan-tree of India, inasmuch as they send 
down numerous stems or trunks, which take root 



A PARAGRAPH 0>7 PALMS. 263 

in the ground, and support the widely-spreading 
branches. The establishment of my host, in- 
cluding his house, and the huts of his various 
drives, were all built beneath a single tree, which 
had thirty-five distinct trunks, besides the central 
or parent stem. A belt of miscellaneous trees is 
also left seaward, to break the force of the north 
wind, which would otherwise be sure to destroy 
the palms. But the underbrush had all been care- 
fully removed, so that both the sea and the lagoon 
were visible from all parts of the village. The de- 
sign of their removal was the excellent one of 
affording a free circulation of air ; a piece of sani- 
tary wisdom which was supported by the additional 
precaution of building the huts open only to the 
sea-breeze, and closed against the miasmatic winds 
which blow occasionally from the land side. 

Nothing could be more beautiful than the palm- 
grove, with its graceful natural columns and ever- 
green arches, beneath which rose the picturesque 
huts of the village. These were all well-built, 
walled, floored, and partitioned with cabbage-palm 
boards, and roofed with the branches of the same 
tree. Episodically, I may repeat what has pro- 
bably often been observed before, that the palm, in 
its varieties, is a marvel of economic usefulness to 
dwellers under the tropics. Not only does it present 
him with forms of enchanting beauty, but it affords 
him food, drink, and shelter. One variety yields 
him excellent substitutes for bread and yeast ; 
another sugar and wine ; a third oil and vinegar ; 
a fourth milk and wax ; a fifth resin and fruit ; 
a sixth medicines and utensils ; a seventh weapons, 
cordage, hats, and clothing ; and an eighth habita- 
tions and furniture ! 



264 THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

The plantations of the village, except a few 
clusters of hanana-trees and sugar-canes, on the 
edge of the lagoon, were situated on the islands of 
the latter, or on its southern shore. Those on the 
islands were most luxuriant, for the principal rea- 
son that they are fully protected from the wild 
beasts, which occasionally commit extensive depre- 
dations on the maize, rice, and cassava fields. One 
of the islands nearest the village, on which my 
hostesses had their plantations, I visited frequently 
during my stay. It was a delicious spot, covered 
with a most luxuriant growth of fruits and vegeta- 
bles. I could well understand why it had been 
selected by the English for their settlement, when 
they sought to establish themselves on the coast, 
during the great war with Spain. A partially- 
obliterated trench and breastwork, a few iron guns 
half-buried in the soil, at the most elevated por- 
tion of the island, and one or two large iron 
cauldrons, probably designed to be used in sugar- 
works, were now the only traces of their ancient 
establishments. 

The lagoon abounds in fish and water-fowl, and 
there are some savannahs, at a considerable dis- 
tance up the Patuca, and on other streams flowing 
into the lagoon, which are thronged with deer. But 
it would seem that these are only occasionally 
hunted by the Caribs, and then chiefly for their 
skins, of which large numbers are exported. 

As I have said, we arrived in Brus during the 
annual carnival, which follows on the return of 
those members of the community who have been 
absent in the mahogany-works. It is in these 
works that the able-bodied Caribs find their prin- 
cipal employment. They hire for from two pounds 



A CARIB DANDY. 265 

to two pounds ten shillings a-month, and rations, 
receiving one half of their pay in goods, and the 
other half in money. As a consequence, they have 
among them a great variety of articles of European 
manufacture, selected with a most fantastic taste. 
A Carib dandy delights in closely-fitting panta- 
loons, supported by a scarlet sash, a jaunty hat, 
encircled by a broad band of gold lace, a profuse 
neck-cloth, and a sword, or purple umbrella. It is 
in some such garb that he returns from the maho- 
gany-works, to delight the eyes and affect the sen- 
sibilities of the Carib girls ; nor does he fail to 
stuff his pockets with gay beads, and ear-rings and 
bracelets of hoop -like dimensions, richly gilt and 
glowing with coloured glass, wherewith to follow 
up any favourable impression which may be pro- 
duced by his own resplendent person. He then 
affects to have forgotten his Carib tongue, and finds 
himself constantly running into more familiar 
English, after the immemorial practice of great 
and finished travellers. He scorns the native chicha 
for the first day, but overcomes his prejudice, and 
gets glorious upon it the next. In fact, he enacts 
an unconscious satire upon the follies of a class, 
whose vanity would never enable them to discover 
the remotest possible parallelism between them- 
selves and the Caribs of Honduras ! 

During the day several large boats arrived at 
Brus from Limas and Roman, both of which are 
mahogany stations. They all carried the Honduras 
flag at the topmast, and bore down on the shore 
with their utmost speed, only striking their sails 
when on the edge of the breakers, when the occu- 
pants would all leap overboard, and thus float their 
boats to the shore. Here, under the shade of the 



266 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

trees, all the inhabitants of the village were 
gathered. They shouted and beat drums, and fired 
muskets, by way of welcome to their friends, who 
responded with the whole power of their lungs. 
Here, too, expectant wives, affectionate sisters, and 
anxious mothers, spread out tables, loaded with 
food, fruits, bottles of rum, and jars of chicha, 
wherewith to regale husband, brother, or son, on 
the instant of his arrival. It was amusing to wit- 
ness the rivalry of the various wives of the same 
anxiously-expected husband, in their efforts to out- 
vie each other in the arrangement of their respec- 
tive tables, and the variety of eatables and drinka- 
bles which they supported. They were all particu- 
larly ambitious in their display of glass-ware, and 
some of them had a profusion of gay, and, in some 
instances, costly decanters and tumblers. One 
yellow dame, with her shoulders loaded with beads 
and but half-concealed by a silken scarf of bright- 
est crimson, was complacent and happy in the 
exclusive possession of a plated wine-server, which 
supported three delicately-cut bottles of as many 
different colours, and filled with an equal variety 
of liquors. 

Everybody drank with everybody on the occa- 
sion of everybody's arrival, a process which, it may 
be suspected, might, by frequent repetition, come 
to develope a large liberality of feeling. At noon, 
it exhibited itself in a profuse and energetic shak- 
ing of hands, and towards night in embraces more 
prolonged and unctuous than pleasant or endurable 
to one receiving his initiation in the practice. So 
I was fain to retire early from the shore, although 
enjoying highly the excitement, in which I could 
not fail to have that kind of sympathy which every 



SINGULAR PRACTICES. 267 

manifestation of genuine feeling is sure to inspire. 
Even Antonio, whose impassible brow had latterly 
become anxious and thoughtful, partook of the 
general exhilaration, and wore a smiling face. 

I was treated with great consideration by the 
entire population, who all seemed alike consequen- 
tial and happy when an opportunity was afforded 
to them of shaking me by the hand, and inquiring, 
" How do you do ?" 

As I have intimated, the Caribs, like the Mos- 
quitoes, practise polygamy ; but the wives have each 
a distinct establishment, and require a fair and 
equal participation in all of the favours of their 
husband. If he makes one a present, he is obliged 
to honour all the others in like manner ; and they 
are all equally ready to make common cause 
against him, in case of infidelity, or too wide an 
exhibition of gallantry. The division of duties and 
responsibilities is rather extraordinary. When a 
Carib takes a wife, he is obliged to build her a 
house and clear her a plantation. But, this done, 
she must thenceforth take care of herself and her 
offspring • and if she desire the assistance of her 
husband in planting, she is obliged to pay him, at 
the rate of two dollars per week, for his services. 
And although the husband generally accompanies 
his wives in their trading excursions to Truxillo 
and elsewhere, he carries no loads, and takes no 
part in the barter. As a consequence, nearly all 
the labour of the villages is performed by the wo- 
men ; the men thinking it rather beneath them, 
and far from manly, to engage in other occupation 
than mahogany-cutting and the building of boats, 
in which art they are very expert, using the axe, 
saw, and adze with great skill. Altogether, the 



268 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

Caribs are kind, industrious, provident, honest, and 
faithful, and must ultimately constitute one of the 
most important aids to the development of the 
country. They are brave, and some companies, 
which have been in the service of the government, 
have distinguished themselves in the field, not less 
for their subordination than for their valour and 
powers of endurance. They are usually temperate, 
and it is rare to see one of them drunk, except 
during the continuance of some festival, of which 
they have several in the course of the year. 

I remained but a few days at Brus, and availed 
myself of the departure of a large creer, or Carib 
boat, bound for Roatan, to take passage for that 
island. I could not prevail upon my host to accept 
anything in return for his hospitality, except "■ El 
Moro," for whom one of his children had con- 
ceived a strong liking, which the bird was far from 
reciprocating. Mischievous Moro ! The last I 
saw of him was while waddling stealthily across 
the floor, to get a bite at the toes of his admirer ! 

Our course from Brus lay, first, to the island of 
Guanaja, distinguished historically as the one 
whence Columbus first descried the mainland of 
America. Our sole purpose there was to carry a 
demijohn of brandy to a solitary Scotchman, liv- 
ing upon one of the cays which surround it, to 
whom it had been sent by some friend in Belize. 
It had been intrusted to the Carib owner of the 
boat, who went thus out of his way to fulfil his 
commission, without recompence or the hope of re- 
ward. One would suppose that a demijohn of 
brandy was a dangerous article to intrust to the 
exclusive custody of Indians ; but those who know 
the Caribs best have most faith in their integrity. 



APPROACH TO THE GUANAJA. 269 

The Bay of Honduras is remarkable for its 
general placidity, and the extreme purity of its 
waters. It has a large number of coral cays and 
reefs on its western border, which almost encircle 
the peninsula of Yucatan, as with a belt. The fine 
islands of Roatan and Guanaja are belted in like 
manner, but there are several openings in the 
rocky barriers which surround them, through 
which vessels may enter the protected waters 
within. 

The wind was fresh and fair, the sky serene, and 
the sea was bright and sparkling in the sunlight. 
We swept on swiftly and gayly, the pine-clad 
mountains of Guanaja rising slowly and smilingly 
above the horizon. By-and-by the palm-trees on 
the surrounding cays became visible, their plumes 
appearing to spring from the clear waters, and to 
rise and fall with the motion of our boat. As we 
approached nearer to them, we could make out 
the cays themselves, supporting masses of emerald 
verdure, within a silvery ring of sand. Between 
them and the island, with its wealth of forest, the 
sea was of the loveliest blue, and placid as a 
" painted ocean." But, before we reached their 
fairy-like shores, the wind died away, and our sail 
drooped from the mast. We were partly under 
the lee of the land, and the surface of the sea soon 
became 



-Charmed in a calm so still. 



That not a ripple ruffled its smooth face." 

And as we drifted on, our boat yielding to the 
gentle swells, I amused myself in looking over the 
side, and contemplating the forms of marine life 
which the transparent water revealed to our gaze. 



270 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

The bottom was distinctly visible, studded with 
the wonderful products of the coral polypus, here 
spreading out like fans, there taking the forms of 
flattened globes radiating with spines, and yonder 
shooting up in branching, antler-like stems. Dark 
patches of jelly-like sponge, the white shells of 
myriads of conches, and occasionally a large fish, 
whose pulsating gills alone gave sign of life — all 
these contributed to lend variety and interest to 
those glimpses of the bottom of the sea. It was to 
me a new revelation of Nature, and as I gazed, 
and gazed, the musical song of the " dainty Ariel" 
rang its bell-like cadences in my ears : 

" Full fathoms five thy father lies ; 
Of his bones are corals made ; 
Those are pearls that were his eyes ; 

Nothing of him that doth fade, 
But doth suffer a sea-change 
Into something rich and strange I" 

Our men stretched themselves in the bottom of 
the boat, waiting, as they said, for the evening 
breeze. But the evening breeze came not, and 
they were finally obliged to paddle the boat to the 
nearest cay — a coral gem indeed, with its cluster- 
ing palms, drooping gracefully over the sea, as if, 
Narcissus-like, contemplating their own beauty in 
its mirror-like surface. 

The moon was in her first quarter, and as she 
rose above the placid sea, revealing the island in 
its isolation and beauty, jewelled round with cays, I 
seated myself apart, on the sand of the shore, and 
drank in the beauty of the scene. Gradually my 
thoughts recurred to the past, and I could hardly 
realize that but little more than five months had 



MOONLIGHT MUSINGS. 271 

elapsed since I had held an unwitting conference 
with the demon, in my little studio in White-street. 
And yet what an age of excitement and adventure 
had been crowded in that brief space ! I felt that 
I had entered upon a new world of ideas and im- 
pressions, and wondered to think that I had lived 
so long immured in the dull, unsympathizing heart 
of the crowded city. It was with a pang of regret 
that I now found myself drifting upon civilization 
again. A few days would bring me to Belize, 
where I knew Antonio would leave me, to return to 
the fastnesses of his people. Where then should 
I go ? 

These reflections saddened me, and the unwilling 
conviction was forced upon my mind that I must 
soon be roused from my long, delicious dream, per- 
haps never again to court its enchantments with 
success. I gazed upon the moonlit waters, and 
listened to the gentle chime of the waves upon the 
sand, and almost regretted that I had been admit- 
ted within the grand arcanum of Nature, to adore 
her unveiled beauties, since they were now to be 
shut out from me for ever, by the restraints, the 
unmeaning forms, the follies and vices of artificial 
life ! A heavy weight of melancholy settled on my 
heart, and I bowed my head on my knees, and — 
shall I own it ? — wept ! 

It was then that Antonio approached me, as 
silently as when he stole to my side on the fearful 
night of our shipwreck, and quietly laid his hand 
on my shoulder. I knew who it was, but I said 
nothing, for I hesitated to betray my emotion. 

He respected my silence, and waited until my 

momeutary weakness had passed away, when I 

, raised my head, and met his full and earnest gaze. 



272 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

His face again glowed with that mysterious intelli- 
gence which I had remarked on several previous 
occasions; but now his lips were unsealed, and he 
said : — 

u This is a good place, my brother, to tell you 
the secret of my heart ; for on that dark island, 
slumber the bones of our fathers. It was there 
that my powerful ancestor, Baalam Votan, led the 
white-robed holy men, when they fled from the re- 
gions of the rising sun. It was there that our peo- 
ple raised a temple to the Imperial Tiger, whose 
descendant I am — for am I not Baalam,* and is 
not this the Heart of the People ?" 

This exclamation was made with energy, and, for 
a moment, he was silent, and gazed earnestly upon 
his cherished talisman. 

When he resumed, it was in a less exalted 
strain. He told me of the ancient greatness of his 
people, when the race of Baalam Votan reigned 
over the Peninsula of Yucatan, and sent the mis- 
sionaries of their religion to redeem the savage 
nations which surrounded them, even to the coun- 
try of the Huastecas, on the river of Panuco. It 
was then, he said, that the Lord of Life smiled on 
the earth ; then the ears of maize were many times 
larger than now, the trees were loaded with unfail- 
ing supplies of fruit, and bloomed with peren- 
nial flowers ; the cotton grew of many colours ; 
and, although men died, their spirits walked the 

* Baalam, in the language of Yucatan, signifies Tiger. 
and Votan is understood to denote Heart. The Maya tradi- 
tion is, that Baalam Votan, the Tiger -Heart, led the fathers 
of the Mayas to Yucatan, from a distant country. He is 
conspicuously figured in the ruined temples around the Lake 
of Itza, as well as at Chichen and Palenque. 



BAALAM YOTAX. 273 

earth, and held familiar converse with the children 
of the Itzaes. 

Never have I heard a voice more intense and 
fervid than that of the Indian boy, as he described 
the traditionary golden age of his people. I lis- 
tened with breathless interest, and thought it was 
thus that the prophets of old must have spoken, 
when the people deemed them inspired of heaven. 
But when he came to recount the wrongs of his 
nation, and the destruction of the kingdom of his 
fathers, I could scarcely believe that the hoarse 
voice, and words but half-articulated from excess 
of passion, proceeded from the same lips. It was 
a fearful sight to witness the convulsive energy of 
that Indian boy, whose knotted muscles, and the 
veins swelling almost to bursting on his forehead, 
half induced me to fear that he had been stricken 
with madness. 

But soon he became calm again, and told me 
how the slumbering spirit of his people had be- 
come roused, and how wide-spread and terrible 
was the revenge which they were meditating upon 
their oppressors. A few years before, his father 
had gathered the descendants of the ancient Cazi- 
ques amid the ruins at Chichen-Itza, and there 
they had sworn, by the Heart of Baalam Yotan, to 
restore the rule of the Holy Men, and expel the 
Spaniards from the Peninsula. It was then that 
the sacred relic which he wore on his breast had 
been dug up from the hiding-place where it had 
lain for centuries, to lend the sanctity and power 
of the traditionary Votan to his chosen successor. 
But the movement had been premature ; and 
although the excited, but poorly-armed Indians 
performed prodigies of valour, and carried their 

T 



274 THE MOSQUITO SHOllE. 

victories to the very walls of Merida, yet there 
they received a sudden, and, as it seemed, a final 
check, in the death of Chichen-Pat, their cherished 
leader. He fell at the head of his followers, who 
rescued only the talisman of Votan, called the 
" Heart of the People," and then fled in dismay to 
their fastnesses in the wilderness. But the spirit 
which had been evoked was not subdued. Another 
convocation was held, and the only son of their 
late leader was invested with the symbol of autho- 
rity. A scheme of insurrection was devised, which 
was intended to include, not only the Indians of 
Yucatan and of Central America, but even those 
of Mexico and Peru, in one grand and terrible 
uprising against the Spanish dominion. 

To this end messengers were sent in every direc- 
tion ; and the proud cavalier at Bogota or Mexico, 
spurring his horse, with arrogant mien, past the 
strange Indian, who shrank aside at his approach, 
or stood with head uncovered in his presence, lit- 
tle thought what torrents of hate were dammed up 
in that swarthy breast, or what wide- laid schemes 
of vengeance were revolving beneath that impas- 
sible brow ! The emissaries toiled through wil- 
dernesses and deep marshes, over high moun- 
tains and dangerous rivers, enduring hunger and 
fatigue, and the extremes of heat and cold, to 
fulfil their respective missions. Even the daugh- 
ters of the Holy Men, like the seeress of the river 
Bocay, ventured afar from the homes of their peo- 
ple, and among distant and alien tribes became 
the propagandists of the meditated Revenge ! 
***** 

The night had worn on, and the crescent moon 
rested on the verge of the horizon. I had heard 



THE GBEAT CONSPIRACY. 275 

the great secret of the Indian boy ; his bitter re- 
cital of past wrongs and failures, and his hopes of 
future triumph. I now knew that the angel of 
blood was indeed abroad, and that, in his own 
figurative language, " The voice of the Tiger was 
loud in the mountain M 

I was silent and thoughtful when he had fin- 
ished; but when, after a long pause, he asked, 
Ci Will my brother go with me to the lake of the 
Itzaes ?" I grasped his hand and swore, by a name 
holier than that of Votan, to justify a friendship 
so unwavering by a faith as boundless as his own. 
And when I left the outposts of civilization, and 
plunged into the untracked wilderness, with no 
other friend or guide, never did a suspicion or a 
doubt darken for an instant my confidence, or im- 
pair my faith in the loyal heart of Antonio Chtjl 
— once the mild-eyed Indian, boy, but now the 
dreaded chieftain and victorious leader of the un- 
relenting Itzaes of Yucatan ! 

Time only can determine what will be the final 
result of the contest which is now waging upon the 
soil of that beautiful, but already half- desolated 
peninsula. Almost every arrival brings us the 
news of increased boldness and new successes on 
the part of the Indians ; and it now seems as 
if the great drama of the conquest were to be 
closed by the destruction of the race of the con- 
querors ! Terribly the frown darkens on the front 
of Nemesis ! 

" The voice of the Tiger is loud in the moun- 
tain !» 



276 



APPENDIX. 



A, 

HISTOEICAL SKETCH OF THE MOSQUITO SHOKE. 

The general physical characteristics and the 
climate and productions of the Mosquito Shore, 
have probably been sufficiently indicated in the 
foregoing rapid narrative. Nevertheless, to supply 
any deficiencies which may exist in these respects, 
as well as to illustrate the history of this coast, to 
which recent political events have given some de- 
gree of interest, I have here brought together a 
variety of facts derived from original sources, or 
such as are not easily accessible to the general 
reader. 

The designation "Mosquito Shore" can only 
properly be understood, in a geographical sense, as 
applying to that portion of the eastern coast of 
Central America lying between Cape Gracias a 
Dios and Bluefields Lagoon, or between the twelfth 
and fifteenth degrees of north latitude, a distance 
of about two hundred miles. The attempts which 
have been made to apply this name to a greater 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. . 277 

extent of shore, have had their origin in strictly 
political considerations. 

This coast was discovered by Columbus, in his 
fourth voyage, in 1502. He sailed along its entire 
length, stopping at various points, to investigate 
the country and ascertain the character of its in- 
habitants. He gave it the name Cariay, and it 
was accurately characterised by one of his com- 
panions, Porras, as " una tierra muy baja/ } a very 
low land. Columbus himself, in his letter to the 
Spanish sovereigns, describes the inhabitants as 
fishers, and "as great sorcerers, very terrible." 
His son, Fernando Columbus, is more explicit. 
He says, they were " almost negroes in colour, 
bestial, going naked; in all respects very rude, 
eating human flesh, and devouring their fish raw, 
as they happened to catch them." The language 
of the chroniclers warrants us in believing that 
these descriptions applied only to the Indians of 
the sea-coast, and that those of the interior, 
whose language then was different, were a distinct 
people. 

The great incentive to Spanish enterprise in 
America, and which led to the rapid conquest and 
settlement of the continent, was the acquisition of 
the precious metals. But little of these was to be 
found on the Mosquito Shore, and, as a con- 
sequence, the tide of Spanish adventure swept by, 
heedless of the miserable savages who sought a pre- 
carious subsistence among its lagoons and forests. 
It is true, a grant of the entire coast, from Cape 
G racias to the Gulf of Darien, was made to Diego 
de Nicuessa, for purposes of colonization, within 
ten years after its discovery, but the expedition 
which he fitted out to carry it into effect, was 



278 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

wrecked at the mouth of the Cape, or Wanks 
river, which in consequence "bore, for many years, 
the name of Rio de los Perdidos. 

From that time forward, the attention of Spain 
was too much absorbed with the other parts of her 
immense empire in America, to enable her to de- 
vote much care to this comparatively unattractive 
shore. Her missionaries, inspired with religious 
zeal, nevertheless penetrated among its people, 
and feeble attempts were made to found establish- 
ments at Cape Gracias, and probably at other 
points on the coast. But the resources of the 
country were too few to sustain the latter, and the 
Indians themselves too debased and savage to 
comprehend the instructions of the former. 

The coast, therefore, remained in its primitive 
condition until the advent of the buccaneers in 
the sea of the Antilles, which was about the mid- 
dle of the seventeenth century. Its intricate bays 
and unknown rivers furnished admirable places of 
refuge and concealment for the small and swift 
vessels in which they roved the seas. They made 
permanent stations at Cape Gracias and Bluefields, 
from which they darted out like hawks on the gal- 
leons that sailed from Nombre de Dios and Car- 
thagena, laden with the riches of Peru. Indeed, 
Bluefields, the present seat of Mosquito royalty, 
derives its name from Bleevelt, a noted Dutch 
pirate, who had his rendezvous in the bay of the 
same name. 

The establishment at Cape Gracias, however,, 
seems to have been not only the principal one obl 
this coast, but in the whole Caribbean Sea. It is 
mentioned in nearly every chapter of the narra- 
tives which the pirates have left us of their wild. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 279 

and bloody adventures. Here they met to divide 
their spoil, and to decide upon new expeditions. 
The relations which they maintained with the 
natives are well described by old Jo. Esquemeling, 
a Dutch pirate, who wrote about 1670 : — 

"We directed our course towards Gracias a Dios, 
for thither resort many pirates who have friendly cor- 
respondence with the Indians there. The custom is, 
that when any pirates arrive, every one has the liberty 
to buy himself an Indian woman, at the price of a 
knife, an old axe, wood-bill or hatchet. By this con- 
tract the woman is obliged to stay with the pirate all 
the time he remains there. She serves him, meanwhile, 
with victuals of all sorts that the country affords. The 
pirate has also liberty to go and hunt and fish where he 
pleases. Through this frequent converse with the 
pirates, the Indians sometimes go to sea with them for 
whole years, so that many of them can speak English/' 
— Buccaneers of America, London, 1704, p. 165. 

He also adds that they were extremely indolent, 
"wandering up and down, without knowing or 
caring so much as to keep their bodies from the 
rain, except by a few palm-leaves," with "no 
other clothes than an apron tied around their mid- 
dle," and armed with spears "pointed with the 
teeth of crocodiles," and living chiefly on bananas, 
wild fruits, and fish. 

We have a later account of them by De Lussan, 
another member of the fraternity of freebooters : 

" The Cape has long been inhabited by mul asters 
[mulattos] and negroes, both men and women, who 
have greatly multiplied since a Spanish ship, bound 
from Guinea, freighted with their fathers, was lost here. 
Those who escaped from the wreck were courteously 



280 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

received by the Mousticks [Spanish Moscos, English 
Mosquitoes] who live hereabout. These Indians as- 
signed their guests a place to grub up, and intermixed 
■with them. 

" The ancient Mousticks live ten or a dozen leagues 
to the windward, at a place called Sanibey [Sandy Bay], 
They are very slothful, and neither plant nor sow but 
very little ; their wives performing all the labour. As 
for their clothing, it is neither larger nor more sumptu- 
ous than that of the mulasters of the Cape. There are 
but few among them who have a fixed abode, most of 
them being vagabonds, and wandering along the river 
side, with no other shelter than the latarien-leaf [palm- 
leaf], which they manage so that when the wind drives 
the rain on one side, they turn their leaf against it, be- 
hind which they lie. When they are inclined to sleep, 
they dig a hole in the sand, in which they put them- 
selves." — De Lussans Narrative, London, 1704, 
p. 177. 

The negroes wrecked from the Spanish slave- 
ship were augmented in number by the cimarones, 
or runaway slaves of the Spanish settlements in 
the interior; and, intermingling with the ludians, 
originated the mongrel race which now predomi- 
nates on the Mosquito Shore. Still later, when 
the English planters from Jamaica attempted to 
establish themselves on the coast, they brought 
their slaves with them, who also contributed to in- 
crease the negro element. What are called Mos- 
quito Indians, therefore, are a mixed race combin- 
ing the blood of negroes, Indians, pirates, and 
Jamaica traders. 

Many of the pirates were Englishmen, and all 
had relations more or less intimate with the early 
governors of Jamaica, who often shared their pro- 
fits, in return for such indulgences as they were 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 281 

able to afford. Indeed, it is alleged that they were 
often partners in the enterprises of the buccaneers. 
But when the protracted wars with Spain, which 
favoured this state of things, were brought to a close, 
it became no longer prudent to connive at freeboot- 
ing ; and, as a kind of intelligence had sprung up 
with the Mosquito Shore, they conceived the idea 
of obtaining possession of it, on behalf of the Bri- 
tish crown. Various plans to this end, drawn up 
by various individuals, were at this period pre- 
sented to the royal government, and by them, it 
would seem, referred to the governors of Ja- 
maica. 

But the governors of that island had already 
taken the initiative. As early as 1687 one of the 
Mosquito chiefs had been taken to Jamaica, for 
the purpose of having him place his country under 
the protection of England. Sir Hans Sloane has 
left an account of how, having escaped from his 
keepers, " he pulled off the European clothes his 
friends had put on, and climbed to the top of 
a tree V 

It seems, nevertheless, that he received u a 
cocked hat, and a ridiculous piece of writing,^ 
which, according to Jeffrevs, was a commission as 
king, " given by his Grace, the Duke of Albemarle, 
under the seal of the island V 3 

It was not, however, until 1740, that an attempt 
was made to obtain a cession of the coast from the 
extraordinary monarch thus created by the Duke 
of Albemarle. In that year Governor Trelawney 
wrote to the Duke of Xewcastle, suggesting the 
expediency of rousing the Mosquito Indians against 
the Spaniards, with whom the English were at war, 
and purposing an absolute occupation of their 



282 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

country. He represented that there were about 
one hundred Englishmen there, t& mostly such as 
could live nowhere else," who might be brought to- 
gether, reinforced, and, by the help of the Mos- 
quitos, finally induce the other Indians to revolt,. 
" and thus spread the insurrection from one part 
to another, till it should become general over tha 
Indies, and drive the Spaniards entirely out." 

In pursuance of this scheme, Governor Trelaw- 
ney commissioned one Robert Hodgson to proceed 
to the Mosquito Shore, fully provided with every- 
thing necessary to enable him to tamper with the 
Indians. The manner in which he executed his 
instructions is naively told by Hodgson himself, 
in a letter addressed to the Governor. The follow- 
ing extracts are from the original letter, now in the- 
possession of Colonel Peter Force, of Washing- 
ton. 

" Sandy Bay, April 8th, 1740. 
" May it please Your Excellency, — 

" I arrived at St. Andrew's on the 4th of March,, 
arid sailed for Sandy Bay on the 8th, where I arrived on 
the 11th, but was prevented by a Norther from going; 
ashore till the 3 th. 

" King Edward being informed of my arrival, sent 
me word that he would see me next day, which he did, 
attended by several of his captains. I read to him your 
Excellency's letter, and my own commission, and when 
I had explained them by an interpreter, I told them my 
errand, and recommended them to seek all opportunities-- 
of cultivating friendship and union with the neighbour- 
ing Indian nations, and especially such as were under - 
subjection to the Spaniards, and of helping them to re- 
cover their freedom. They approved everything I said,, 
and appointed the 16th to meet the Governor, John. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 283 

Briton, and his captains at the same place, to hear what 
I had further to say. 

Y On the 16th they all came, except Admiral Dilly 
and Colonel Morgan, who were, like General Hobby 
and his captains, at too great a distance to be sent for, 
but their presence not being material, I proceeded to 
explain to them that, as they had long acknowledged 
themselves subjects of Great Britain, the Governor of 
Jamaica had sent me to take possession of their 
country in his Majesty's name — then asked if they had 
anything to object. They answered, they had nothing 
to say against it, but were very glad I had come for that 
purpose ; so I immediately set up the standard, and, re- 
ducing what I had said into articles, I asked them both 
jointly and separately, if they approved and would 
abide by them. They unanimously declared they would. 
I had them then read over again, in solemn manner, 
under the colours, and at the end of every article fired 
a gun, and concluded by cutting up a turf, and promis- 
ing to defend their country, and procure for them all 
assistance from England in my power. 

" The formality with which all this was done seems to 
have had a good effect upon them. 

u The articles I enclose, and hope your Excellency 
will excuse so much ceremony ; for, as I had no certain 
information whether the country was ever taken pos- 
session of before, or ever claimed otherwise than by 
sending them down commissions, I thought the more 
voluntary and clear the cession was the better. . . . 
The king is very young, I believe not twenty, and is 
not much observed ; but were he to be in England or 
Jamaica awhile, His thought he would make a hopeful 
monarch enough. 

u On the 18th the king, with his captains, came of 
their own accord to consult about a proper plan to attack 
[the Spaniards], but hearing that Captain Jumper was 
expected from the other side of the Cape, and neither 



284 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

the Governor, Admiral Dilly, nor Colonel Morgan being 
present, I thought it best to defer it till they were sum- 
moned. The king brought his mother, and the captains 
their wives. I entertained them as usual, but there 
always comes such a train that I should have had three 
or four, instead of one puncheon of rum." 

Hodgson then goes on to describe the appear- 
ance of one Andrew Stewart, a pirate, to whom 
the Indians had made a promise of assistance, from 
which he endeavoured to dissuade them, in order 
to accompany him ; but the Indians finally agreed 
to attack the river Cocelijo to oblige Stewart, and 
San Juan de Veragua to oblige Hodgson. He con- 
tinues : — 

. . . " They intoxicate themselves with a liquor 
made of honey, pine -apple, and cassava. 

" I fell into one of their drunken-bouts by accident 
yesterday, when I found Admiral Dilly and Colonel 
Morgan retailing my advice to them to little effect, for 
most of them were too drunk to mind it, and so hide- 
ously painted that I quickly left them to avoid being 
daubed all over, which is the compliment they usually 
pay visitors on such occasions. 

. . . " Their resentment of adultery has lost its * 
edge too much among them, which I have no doubt 
they are obliged to us for, as also for the breach of pro- 
mise in their bargains. . . . They will loll in their 
hammocks until they are almost starved, then start up, 
and go a turtling in a pet ; and if they have not imme- 
diate success, and there happen to be many boats toge- 
ther, they form a design upon some Spanish or Indian 
town. .... 

" The country is fine, and produces good cotton, bet- 
ter than Jamaica. . . . Those Indians, on this side, 
-do not appear so averse to government as I supposed, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 285 

and those on the other are tractable enough. ... I 
don't take their number to be so many as the author of 
the project makes them out. 

(Signed) "Kobert Hodgson/' 

In a subsequent letter from Chiriqui Lagoon, 
dated June 21, 1740, Hodgson gives a further ac- 
count of his expedition, and asks for some blank 
commissions for Mosquito admirals and generals, 
and also implores the Governor to send him out 
some men as a guard ; for, he says, " my life is in 
more danger from these Indians than from the 
Spaniards." 

Previously to this mission of Hodgson, viz., on 
the 28th of October, the Spanish Ambassador in 
London had made complaints that the incursions of 
the Zambos and Indians of the Mosquito Shore, 
on the adjacent Spanish settlements, were "at the 
instigation and under the protection of the English 
of Jamaica, who have a commerce with them, and 
give them in exchange for the captive Indians 
whom they purchase for slaves, fire-arms, powder, 
shot, and other goods, contrary to the natural 
rights of these people." 

The " cession" of the Mosquito Shore, thus pro- 
cured by Hodgson, was followed up by occupation. 
Several Jamaica planters established themselves 
there, and Hodgson shortly afterwards received the 
appointment of " Superintendent of the Mosquito 
Shore." 

In 1744 an order was issued in council, dis- 
patching a certain number of troops from Jamaica 
to the Mosquito Shore, and in 1 748 another order 
for sending a supply of ordnance to the u new set- 
tlements" established there. In fact, everything 



286 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

indicated the purpose of a permanent occupation 
of the country. The Spaniards remonstrated, and 
in 1750-51 threatened a forcible expulsion of the 
English, whereupon Trelawney instructed Hodgson 
to represent to them, that "the object of keeping 
a superintendent among the Indians was to restrain 
them in their hostilities against the Spaniards!" 
For a time the Spaniards were deceived, and even 
went so far as to confer on Hodgson the title of 
Colonel, for the services which he professed to 
render to them. They, however, finally discovered 
his duplicity, and made arrangements to carry out 
their threat. 

This not only alarmed the settlers, but also 
Governor Knowles, who had succeeded Trelawney 
in Jamaica. He opened a correspondence with 
the Captain-General of Guatemala for the cessa- 
tion of hostilities, till he could hear from England, 
whither he wrote that the whole Mosquito affair 
ivas * a job/ 3 and that if Hodgson were not checked 
or recalled, r< he would involve the nation in diffi- 
culties," and that the " Indians were so perplexed 
that they did not know what part to take." A 
little later the Indians themselves took up arms 
against the English, being discontented with the 
treatment which they had received. 

These things did not escape the notice of Spain, 
and had their influence in bringing about the 
troubles which were ended by the treaty of Paris, 
in 1763, by which Great Britain agreed to de- 
molish all the fortifications which she had erected, 
not only on the Mosquito Shore, but in all " other 
places in the territory of Spain, in that part of the 
world." This treaty, nevertheless, did not have 
the effect of entirely terminating English intrigue 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 287 

and aggression on the Mosquito Shore and else- 
where, and its provisions were consequently re- 
vived, and made more explicit and stringent by the 
subsequent treaty of 1783. This treaty provided 
that all the " English settlements on the Spanish 
continent" should be abandoned; but, on the pre- 
text that i\ the Mosquito Shore was not part of the 
Spanish continent, but of the American conti- 
nent/'' the English managed to evade its provi- 
sions, and to keep up their connection with that 
-coast, as before. This piece of duplicity led to 
severe reclamations on the part of Spain, which 
were only settled by the supplementary treaty of 
1786, which stipulated that 

M His Britannic Majesty's subjects, and other colo- 
nists who have enjoyed the protection of England, shall 
-evacuate the country of the Mosquitoes, as well as the 
continent in general, and the islands adjacent without 
exception," &c. And that " If there should still re- 
main any persons so daring as to presume, by entering 
into the interior country, to obstruct the evacuation 
agreed upon, His Britannic Majesty, so far from afford- 
ing them any succour or protection, will disavow them 
in the most solemn manner," &c. &c. 

The English, nevertheless, under authority of 
another article of this treaty, were allowed to cut 
logwood within a certain accurately-defined terri- 
tory on the coast of Yucatan, now known as u Be- 
lize/' or " British Honduras/' But they were 
strictly forbidden to make permanent establish- 
ments, erect fortifications, or organize any form of 
.government ; nor was the permission thus accorded 
to be construed as in any way derogating from the 
** sovereign territorial rights of the King of Spain." 



288 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

Yet from this simple permission to cut wood, thus 
hedged round with solemn treaty stipulations, 
Great Britain, by a series of encroachments and 
aggressions, has come to arrogate absolute sove- 
reignty, not only over Belize and a wide expanse 
of adjacent territory, but also over the large islands 
of Roatan, Guanaja, &c, in the Bay of Honduras, 
which have been organized as colonies of the Bri- 
tish crown ! 

From 1786 forward, Great Britain ceased to 
hold any open relations with the Mosquito Indians, 
until the decline of the power of Spain, and the 
loss of her American possessions. In the interval* 
the governors of the provinces of Central America 
had made various establishments on the Mosquito 
Shore, at Cape Gracias, and at Bluefields, and had 
erected a fort for the protection of the harbour of 
San Juan, at the mouth of the river of the same 
name. 

But when the country passed into the hands of 
the comparatively feeble states of Central America, 
who it was supposed could offer no effectual re- 
sistance to aggression, the English revived their 
schemes of aggrandisement on the Mosquito Shore. 
And while these states were occupied with the 
questions incident to their new political organiza- 
tion, agents were dispatched to the coast, from 
Jamaica and Belize, to tamper again with the In- 
dians, and to induce them to reject the authority 
of the republics which had succeeded to the rights 
of Spain. In this they seem to have been, to a 
certain degree, successful. Neither rum nor com- 
missions as kings, admirals, generals, and go- 
vernors, were wanting, to operate upon the weak- 
ness of the savages. " A regalia," says Macgregor, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 289 

" consisting of a silver-gilt crown, a sword, and 
sceptre of moderate value/' were sent out to lend 
dignity and grandeur to the restored dynasty of 
Mosquito ! A savage chief, or head-man, who 
suited the purposes of the Jamaican Warwicks, 
was pitched upon, taken to Belize, and formally 
" crowned.'" But he turned out badly. In the 
language of Macgregor, in his Report to the Bri- 
tish Parliament, " he combined the bad qualities 
of the European and Creole with the vicious 
propensities of the Sambo, and the capriciousness 
of the Indian/' He was killed in a drunken 
brawl, in 1824, and was succeeded by his half- 
brother, Robert. But it was soon found that 
Robert was in the Spanish interest, and he was 
accordingly set aside by the British agents, who 
took into favour a Sambo, named " George Frede- 
rick/'' But he too proved to be an indifferent 
tool, and either died or was dropped for another 
Sambo, who was called by the high-sounding name 
of u Robert Charles Frederick" and who promised 
to answer every purpose. 

His " coronation" was effected at Belize on 
the 23rd of April, 1825, upon which solemn 
occasion a number of so-called chiefs were got 
together, under the seductive promise of a u big 
drunk." The ceremonies which took place have 
been described by a British subject, who was an 
eye-witness of the proceedings. His picture needs 
no heightening to make it irresistibly ludicrous ! 

" On the previous evening cards of invitation were 
sent to the different merchants, requesting their at- 
tendance at the court-house early in the morning. At 
this place the king, dressed in a British majors uniform, 



290 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

made his appearance ; and his chiefs, similarly clothed, 
but with sailors' trousers, were ranged round the room. 
A more motley group can hardly be imagined. Here 
an epaulette decorated an herculean shoulder, tempting 
its dignified owner to view his less favoured neighbour 
with triumphant glances. There a wanting button dis- 
played a greasy olive skin under the uniform of a cap- 
tain of infantry. At one side a cautious noble might 
be seen, carefully braced up to the chin, like a modern 
dandy, defying the most penetrating eye to prove him 
shirtless ; while the mathematical movements of a 
fourth, panting under such tight habiliments, expressed 
the fear and trembling with which he awaited some 
aw^ful accident. 

u The order of procession being arranged, the caval- 
cade moved towards the church ; his Mosquito Majesty 
on horseback, supported on the right and left by the 
two senior British officers of the settlement, and his 
chiefs following on foot two by two. On its arrival his 
Majesty was placed in a chair, near the altar, and the 
English coronation service was read by the chaplain to 
the colony, who, on this occasion, performed the part 
of the Archbishop of Canterbury. When he arrived at 
this part, L And all the people said, Let the King live 
for ever, long live the King, God save the King !' the 
vessels of the port, according to a previous signal, fired 
a salute, and the chiefs, rising, cried out, 6 Long live 
King Eobert !' 

" His Majesty seemed chiefly occupied in admiring 
his finery, and, after his anointing, expressed his grati- 
fication by repeatedly thrusting his hands through his 
thick, bushy hair, and applying his finger to his nose — 
in this expressive manner indicating his delight at this 
part of the service. 

M Before, however, his chiefs could swear allegiance to 
their monarch, it was necessary that they should profess 
Christianity; and, accordingly, with shame be, it re- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 291 

corded, they were baptised ' in the name of the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost V They displayed total ignorance 
of the meaning of this ceremony, and, when asked to 
give their names, took the titles of Lord Kodney, Lord 
Nelson, or some other celebrated officer, and seemed 
grievously disappointed when told that they could only 
be baptised by simple Christian names. 

u After this solemn mockery was concluded, the whole 
assembly adjourned to a large schoolroom to eat the 
coronation dinner, when these poor creatures all got 
intoxicated with rum! A suitable conclusion to a 
farce as blasphemous and wicked as ever disgraced a 
Christian country.'' — Dunns Central America, pp. 26, 
27.— 1828. 

After having been thus invested with the Mos- 
quito purple, " King Robert Charles Frederick" 
was conducted back to the Mosquito Shore, and 
turned loose to await the further development of 
British designs. After the unctuous ceremonies at 
Belize, he seems to have taken the proceeding in 
earnest, and to have deluded himself with the be- 
lief that he was really a king ! In this character, 
and moved thereto by the suggestions of divers 
scheming traders and the powerful incentives of 
gay cottons and rum, he proceeded, of his sovereign 
will and pleasure, to make grants to the aforesaid 
traders of large portions of his alleged dominions. 
These grants were not only so extensive as to cover 
the entire shore, but conveyed the absolute sove- 
reignty over them to the various grantees — Ren- 
nick, Shepherd, Haly, and others. 

When these proceedings came to the ears of the 
Governor of Jamaica and the Superintendent of 
Belize, who had created "His Mosquito Majesty" 
for their own use and purposes, they created great 



292 THE MOSQUITO SKOKE. 

alarm. Says Macgregor, "it appears that these 
grants were made without the knowledge of the 
British agent, who had usually been residing on 
the coast, to keep up the connection with England" 
He adds that " upon their coming to the knowledge 
of the British government, they were very properly 
disallowed." 

Not only were they disallowed, but a vessel of 
war was sent to the coast to catch "Robert Charles 
Frederick/' and take him to Belize, where he would 
be unable to do more mischief, This was done, but 
" His Majesty" could not endure the restraints of 
civilization — he pined away and died. But before 
this lamentable catastrophe took place, he was in- 
duced to affix "his mark" to a document styled 
" a Will," in which it was provided that the affairs 
of his kingdom should be administered by Colonel 
McDonald, the Superintendent of Belize, as Regent, 
during the minority of his heir ; that McDonald 
should be guardian of his children ; and, with re- 
ference to the spiritual wants of his beloved sub- 
jects, "the United Church of England and Ireland 
should be the established religion of the Mosquito 
nation for ever !" Sainted Robert ! 

Upon the death of " Robert Charles Frederick," 
his son, " George William Clarence," the present 
incumbent of the Mosquito throne, was duly pro- 
claimed "King" by the Regent McDonald and his 
colleagues. His first act, under their direction, was 
the revocation of all the grants which his father 
had made to the traders, on the ground that the 
royal Robert Charles was drunk when he made 
them, and that they had been given without a con- 
sideration. An ageilt was then appointed to take 
charge of this tender sck>n of royalty at Bluefields, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 293 

where the latter still remains, in complete subjec- 
tion to his masters, who direct all his acts, or rather 
compel his endorsement of their own. From 1841 
up to 1848 the proceedings of the English agents, 
in developing their policy in respect to the Mos- 
quito Shore, and in preparing the way for its final 
annexation to the British crown, rise beyond the 
scope of sober history or serious recital, and could 
only be properly illustrated by the appropriate pen 
of "Charivari" or of " Punch." 

All these proceedings were firmly and earnestly- 
protested against by the Central American States, 
who, however, received no satisfactory replies to 
their remonstrances. They were, fnthermore, too 
much occupied with their own interior dissensions 
to undertake any effectual resistance to the aggres- 
sions of the English agents. In this emergency 
they addressed an appeal to the civilized nations 
of Europe, and a particular and fervent one to the 
United States, for its interference in behalf of their 
clear territorial rights and sovereignty. 

Before time was afforded for action on these ap- 
peals, the termination of the war with Mexico, and 
the purchase of California by the United States, 
precipitated the course of English intrigue and en- 
croachment on the Mosquito Shore. The British 
government was not slow to perceive that the ac- 
quisition of California would give to the long- 
cherished project of establishing a ship-canal be- 
tween the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, a new, 
practical, and immediate importance, and rightly 
foresaw that it would soon come to attract a large 
share of public attention in the United States. 
Orders were at once issued for the seizure of the 
Port of San Juan de Nicaragua, the only possible 



294 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

eastern terminus of a canal by way of the river 
San Juan and the Nicaraguan lakes. This port had 
always been- in the undisputed occupation both of 
Spain and Nicaragua; not a single Mosquito Indian 
had ever dwelt there, or within fifty miles of it, in 
any direction, yet, under pretext that it constituted 
" part of the proper dominions of his Mosquito 
Majesty, of whom Great Britain was the lawful 
protector," two British vessels of war entered the 
harbour in the month of January, 1848, tore down 
the Nicaraguan flag, raised that of " Mosquito," 
turned out the Nicaraguan officers, and filled their 
places with Englishmen. This done, they sailed 
away; but no sooner did the intelligence of the 
event reach the interior, than the Nicaraguan go- 
vernment sent down a small force, expelled the 
intruders, and resumed possession. The British 
forces, considerably augmented, thereupon returned. 
The Nicaraguans, unable to oppose them, retired 
up the river, and erected some rude fortifications 
on its banks. They were followed by an English 
detachment, and finally routed, with great loss. 
Hostilities were further prosecuted, until the Ni- 
caraguans, powerless against the forces of Great 
Britain, consented to an armistice, which provided 
that they should not disturb San Juan, or attempt 
to reoccupy the port, pending the negotiations 
which, it was foreseen, would follow upon the seiz- 
ure. All attempts to induce them to relinquish 
their claims of sovereignty over the port were, how- 
ever, unsuccessful. 

By this high-handed act, committed in time of 
profound peace, Lord Palmerston, who had directed 
it, fondly hoped to secure for Great Britain the 
control of the then supposed only feasible means of 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 295 

communication between the seas. He had grasped, 
as he thought, the key of the Central American 
Isthmus. English officers were at once installed 
in San Juan, and a " Consul General" appointed 
to reside there, with the most absolute dictatorial 
powers, supported by what was called a "police 
force" from Jamaica, and the almost constant pre- 
sence of a British vessel of war in the harbour. 

This act was shortly followed by the attempted 
seizure of the island of Tigre and the gulf of 
Fonseca, the supposed western terminus of the pro- 
posed canal on the Pacific. This attempt was 
thwarted by American diplomacy in that quarter. 

The results of American interference are too re- 
cent and well known to need recapitulation. An 
American company obtained the privileges of a 
transit through Nicaragua, and it was not long be- 
fore American steamers began to run to San Juan. 
A large number of American citizens established 
themselves at the port. They took the direction 
of affairs in their own hands, adopted a constitu- 
tion, and organized a regular and stable govern- 
ment, pending the final settlement of the various 
questions concerning Central America, then in 
course of negotiation between the United States 
and Great Britain. In this condition the place re- 
mained, well ordered and affording the fullest pro- 
tection to person and property, until the month of 
June of last year, when, under a misrepresentation 
of facts, and the grossest perversions of truth, in- 
spired by unscrupulous personal hostility, the United 
States government was induced to issue such orders 
in respect to it, to a naval officer of more zeal and 
ambition for notoriety than either wisdom or dis- 
cretion, as resulted in its bombardment and total 



296 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 



destruction. Since this act, which has met the 
unanimous reprehension of the country, the town 
has been partly rebuilt and reoccupied, and now 
maintains an extraordinary and most anomalous 
condition, which cannot long endure without re- 
sulting in serious complications. The United States 
insists, and justly, that it pertains to Nicaragua, 
and that all authority which maybe exercised there, 
not derived from that State, is a usurpation; while, 
on the other hand, without insisting on the sove- 
reignty of Mosquito, Great Britain denies it to Ni- 
caragua, and prohibits her from attempting to ex- 
ercise jurisdiction over it. Meantime San Juan 
and its people are left helplessly in a political limbo, 
suffering witnesses of their inability to serve two 
masters. The obvious, and probably the only peace- 
able solution of this complication, is the voluntary 
establishment of San Juan as a free port by Ni- 
caragua, under the joint protection of England and 
the United States. 

Since 1849 nearly the whole interest of the 
"Mosquito question" has been centred in San 
Juan. It is true, Messrs. Webster and Crampton 
agreed upon a projet, defining the limits of Mos- 
quito jurisdiction, and establishing a de facto 
Sambo monarchy on the coast, recognised, if not 
guaranteed, both by the United States and Great 
Britain. But the projet found no favour in Ame- 
rica, and was, moreover, indignantly rejected by 
Nicaragua. How far subsequent negotiations have 
tended to 'bring affairs to a settlement, remains to 
be disclosed. 

It is nevertheless certain that, while Nicaragua 
has fretted, the United States blustered, and Great 
Britain silently and sullenly relaxed her gripe, as 



HIST0E1CAL SKETCH. 297 

circumstances have rendered it necessary, the 
" Kingdom of Mosquito" has undergone no 
change, but has kept on the even tenour of its way 
— a happy illustration of the conservative and 
peaceful tendencies of well-established monarchial 
institutions ! Under all the complications of the 
modern time, the royal Clarence, the hospitable 
Drummer, and the bibulous Slam, ignorant of the 
exalted place which they occupy in the instruc- 
tions, and despatches,, and notes of conference, 
wherewith the Slams and Drummers of other 
lands do gravely amuse themselves, still cherish 
the well-being of their beloved and fellow-subjects, 
who, in turn, hunt, and fish, and cultivate the 
ec big drunk" as of yore ! 

2. 



298 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 



B. 



VAKIOUS NOTES ON THE TOPOGEAPHY, SOIL, 
CLIMATE, AND NATIVES OF THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

The subjoined extracts, from various published 
works and memoirs of acknowledged authenticity, 
and from original documents, exhibit the condition 
of the people of the Mosquito Shore, their habits 
and modes of life, from the year 1700 up to the 
present time. It will be seen that few if any 
changes have taken place for the better in this 
long period of a hundred and fifty years. 



1710. 

From D ampler' } s " Voyage round the World," 
London, 1717, pp. 7-11. 

" The Mosquito Indians are but a small nation or 
family, and not a hundred men of them in number, in- 
habiting on the main, on the north side, near Cape 
Gracias a Dios. . . . They are coveted by the 
privateers as hunters. . . . They have no form 
of government among them, but take the Governor of 
Jamaica to be one of the greatest princes in the 
world." 



NOTES AND EXTRACTS. 299 

1757. 

Extracts from " Some Account of the Mosquito Territory," 
written in 1757, ivhile that country ivas in the posses- 
sion of the British, by Col. Robert Hodgson, formerly 
His Majesty's Commander-in-Chief, Superintendent, 
and Agent on the Mosquito Shore. 

This Colonel Hodgson was son of the Captain 
Hodgson, who was sent to the Mosquito Coast, in 
1740, by Governor Trelawney. He states that the 
population of the shore, at the time of his writing 
(1757); exclusive of aborigines, was : " Whites 154, 
Mestizoes and Mulattoes 170, Indian and Negro 
slaves 800 — total 1124." He observes that the 
" whites are without laws," but, nevertheless, liv- 
ing with great regularity ; and that, if the number 
of white children is small, u it may be imputed to 
most of the women having lived with so much 
freedom formerly." He then proceeds to give a 
very clear and accurate account of the country, its 
products, and people, as follows : — 

"The face of the country is various. The sea-coast, 
from Cape Cameron to Bluefields, is low and level, but 
the land rises gradually up any of the large, fair rivers 
with which it abounds, and whose regular flowery 
banks form beautiful avenues, and about twenty miles 
up is high enough for any purpose. But the lowland 
is full of swamps. Near the coast are several large 
lagoons, whose length, for the most part, is parallel 
thereto, and are so joined to each other by narrow necks 
of water, that half this distance may be gone inland upon 
smooth water ; in the flood times this may be called a 
range of islands, lying close in with the main, but the 
land is not much overflowed. To the westward and 
southward of the above capes, the land is high, almost 



300 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

to the sea- side, the hills rising gently like the swell of 
the sea. The greater part of the higher land is covered 
with large' woods ; but the lowland consists chiefly of 
large, level lawns, or savannahs, as they are called. 
with scarce a tree, and some of them very extensive. 
The whole country is remarkably well watered by many 
fine rivers, which have a long course ; by innumerable 
smaller ones, and by creeks and lagoons ; but all the 
rivers have the inconvenience of shoal bars at their 
mouths. The soil of the high woody land is the best, 
and is everywhere excellent ; being either a deep black 
mould, or rich brick clay. TVhat low woody ground is 
interspersed among the lawns is not so good; but the 
inhabitants who hitherto have chosen it for their plan- 
tations, have found that it will produce what they want 
very well. The savannah lands are the worst ; the soil 
is light sand mixed with some rich mould, but might be 
greatly improved and made very useful. At present 
they are used for pasturage. The swamps or marshes 
are very rich soil; and if the wood which grows on 
them were cut down, they would either dry up, or, with 
a little more pains, might be drained." — P. 21. 

" Indigo grows all about the country, of the same 
kind as that of the province of Guatemala, which is 
esteemed the best in the world. 

" Cotton grows everywhere, in the worst land ; the 
staple is remarkably good. There are three species of 
that kind which are manufactured, one of which is a 
light reddish brown, and looks like silk."' — P. 23. 

" Sugar, of which the little that is planted grows re- 
markably well in this country, which is much better 
adapted for it than any of the islands, on account of the 
great convenience of streams of water for such works 
and for carriage ; the country not being subject to 
severe droughts, and free from hurricanes.*' — P. 29. 

u The climate is very sensibly cooler than that of 
Jamaica, and very healthy, on which account people 
from that island sometimes come hither. Indeed, the 



NOTES AND EXTRACTS. 301 

disorders in both are of the same nature ; but here they 
are not nearly so frequent or so violent as in that island. 
During the north winds the season may, with propriety, 
be called winter. 

" The wind most common is the sea-breeze, or trade- 
wind. It blows fresh in June and July, but very mo- 
derate in April, May, August, and September, particu- 
larly in April, and from the middle of August to the 
latter part of September. But from that time to the 
end of October, a westerly wind prevails along the 
coast to the westward of Cape Gracias, and a southerly 
one along the coast to the south of it ; after which, to 
the end of February, at the full and change of the 
moon, strong north winds may be expected, veering 
round from east to west, and continuing about a week, 
yet scarcely ever so strong as to prevent vessels from 
beating to windward, and, if they choose it, getting in 
to Bonacca, . . . The land wind blows seven 
leagues off to sea, although sometimes very weak. 
. . . The month of March is very uncertain. The 
seasons are much the same as in other parts of the con- 
tinent. In the rainy season, scarce a day passes with- 
out a heavy shower ; the first commonly begins in June, 
and lasts about six weeks, in which time the rivers rise 
considerably, and are very rapid. The second begins 
about the middle of October, and lasts about two 
months. When they are over, the vegetation is sur- 
prisingly quick, and there is the further advantage of 
frequent intermediate gentle showers. . . . The 
harbours on this coast do not answer the occasion there 
would be for them. On the bar of Brewer's Lagoon 
there is seven feet water ; often more on that of Black 
Eiver. On those of Carataska and Warina Sound, nine 
feet ; Great Biver and Pearl Cay, eight feet. . . ; 

" The natives or Mosquito people are of two breeds, 
one the original Indians, and the other a mixture of those 
and negroes, called Sambos. The latter originated from 
the cargoes of two Dutch ships filled with negroes, 



302 THE MOSQUITO SHOEE. 

which were cast away on the coast, where, after several 
battles, the negroes had wives and ground given to 
them ; since which they have greatly multiplied, and 
there is now no distinction between them in their rights 
and customs. * — P. 40. 

u Though they are to all intents and purposes one 
people, yet they are not so properly a single state as 
three united, each of which is independent of the 
others. 

" I. Those who inhabit the southern extremity till 
Bragman's, and are mostly the original Indians ; their 
head-man is called Governor. 

" II. Those who extend to about Little Black Paver, 
and are mostly Sambos; their chief is called King. 

" III. Those westward, who are Indians and Sam- 
bos mixed; their head-man is called General. 

a The power of these three head-men is nearly equal, 
with a small difference in favour of the king, who is a 
little supported by the whites for the sake of his name. 
But none of these chiefs have much more than a nega- 
tive voice, and never do anything without consulting a 
council of old men. 

" . . The king lias his commission or patent 

for being called so from the Governor of Jamaica. And 
all the other chief people have commissions (admirals 
and captains) from his Majesty's Superintendent, and, 
upon the strength of these, always assume much more 
authority than they could without. However, it is at 
best such that it may be more properly said that their 
directions are followed than their orders obeyed ; for 
even the young men are above serving the king, and 
will tell him that they are as free as he is, so that if he 
had not a few slaves of other Indians, he would be ob- 
liged to do all his own work/' — P. 49. 

Hodgson next speaks of the ravages of small-pox 
and drunkenness among them, and concludes : 



NOTES AND EXTRACTS. 303 

" . . . Hence the number of Mosquito peo- 
ple, in their present way of life, probably never ex- 
ceeded ten or eleven thousand. . . . From the 
best computation, they are not above seven thousand 
souls." 

1787. 

George Chalmers, Secretary of Board of Trade. From 
MS. Notes for use of Board. 

" The present number of the Mosquito Indians is 
unknown. It happened among them probably, as 
among the North American Indians, that they declined 
in numbers and degenerated in spirit in proportion 
nearly as the white people settled among them. The 
Mosquitoes, like the Caribs of San Domingo, consist of 
three distinct races : the aborigines, the descendants of 
certain African negroes who were formerly wrecked 
on the coast, and a generation containing the blood of 
both. If the Spaniards earnestly desired to destroy 
them, they could not, I think, make a very vigorous 
resistance. They are chiefly defended by the rivers, 
morasses, and woods of the country, and perhaps still 
more by the diseases incident to the climate." 

1818. 

From Roberts's Narrative of Voyages and Excursions on 
the East Coast of Central America. 

c< On the Mosquito Shore, a plurality of mistresses is 
considered no disgrace. It is no uncommon circum- 
stance for a British subject to have one or more of these 
native women at different parts of the coast. They 
have acquired great influence through them. 

" I have never known a marriage celebrated among 
them; these engagements are mere tacit agreements, 
sometimes broken by mutual consent. The children here 



304 THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

and atBluefieldsare in general baptised by the captains of 
trading vessels from Jamaica, who, on their annual visits 
to the coast, perform this ceremony, with anything but 
reverence, on all who have been born during their ab- 
sence ; and many of them are indebted to these men for 
more than baptism. In proof of this, I could enume- 
rate more than a dozen acknowledged children of two 
of these captains, who seem to have adopted, without 
scruple, the Indian idea of polygamy to its fullest ex- 
tent. By this licentious and immoral conduct, they 
have, however, so identified themselves with the natives i 
as to obtain a sort of monopoly of the sale of goods. 
They have also insinuated themselves into the good 
graces of some of the leading men, so that their arrival 
is hailed with joy by all classes, as the season of festi- 
vity, revelry, christening, and licentiousness !" 

1828. 

From " Report of the Commissioners of Legal Inquiry 
in the case of the Indians of Honduras," ordered by the 
House of Commons " to he printed,'" July 10, 1828. 

11 The Mosquito Indians are a barbarous and cruel 
people, in the lowest state of civilization, and under the 
most abject subjection to their kings or chiefs. They 
are hostile to all the other Indian nations, who are a 
mild, timid, and peaceful race, and who appear to live 
under patriarchal governments. . . . Differ- 
ences so striking between nations of the same continent, 
and divided by no inaccessible barriers, have given rise 
to a conjecture, confirmed by concurrent tradition, that 
the Mosquitoes bad a distinct origin. This tradition 
states that a ship loaded with negro men from Africa 
was, at a very remote period, wrecked on the Mosquito 
shore ; that these negroes seized upon the male inhabit- 
ants of the sea-coasts, massacred them, and then, by in- 
termixture with the Indian women, altered the race and 



NOTES ASM EXTRACTS. 30. r 

habits of the nation. This tradition is confirmed by the 
physical appearance of the Mosquitoes, who indicate this 
mixture between the Indian and negro." 

1836. 

James Vfoods, for some time a resident on the Mosquito 
Shore. 

In the year 1836, one James Woods, a native 
of Ipswich, England, went out to Central America, 
under the auspices of a " Colonization Company." 
On his return he published an account of his ad- 
ventures, to serve as a warning against other com- 
panies. He resided awhile at Cape Gracias, in 
charge of a store of provisions, rum, etc. He 
says : — 

" The rum was a dangerous thing in the store, for the 
Indians will kill a man for a glass of rum ; and there 
were only five Europeans at the Cape. I had a demi- 
john of brandy for the Indian king, but he was gone up 
the river. He and his brother were taken from the 
Mosquito Shore when young, and carried to the island 
of Jamaica, where they were taught to read and write 
the English language. After staying there a number 
of years, they were brought back to the shore. One 
was ma$e king, the other a general, and although 
brought up in a civilized state, yet they returned to the 
wild and savage condition in which their people live, 
getting drunk, and giving themselves up to the most 
disgusting habits. No sooner had the king heard that 
I had a demijohn of brandy for him, than he set out 
to return home. He went to the house of a Frenchman, 
named Bouchet, who came down to the beach and told 
me his majesty wanted to see me. I went to the house, 
where the king was lying on a bed, rather unwell. I 
made my compliments to him, and asked him how he 



306 



THE MOSQUITO SHORES. 



did. He told me lie was very poorly, and wanted a 
gallon of brandy, which I accordingly got for him. He 
asked me to drink, and stay and dine with him, which 
I did. He told me that he loved me. I replied, ' You 
love the brandy better ;' but I turned it off with a 
laugh, or he would have been offended with me. He 
stayed for two or three days, and then left for Bluefields. 
These Indians far exceed all the Indians I 
have ever met with in lying, thieving, and everything 
that is disgusting. They are given up to idolatry, and 
lead an indolent life." After giving details of their 
ignorance and barbarism, he adds : " They are also great 
drunkards, and are never easy except when they are 
drunk. " And of the English settlers and traders he 
says : " They are almost as bad as the natives and live 
in almost as disgusting a manner/' 



VOCABULARY. 307 



BRIEF VOCABULARY OF THE MOSQUITO LANGUAGE. 

ins language, the Mosquitoes differ wholly from 
the neighbouring Indians, so that they are unable 
to communicate with them except through inter- 
preters. This fact, not less than their different 
character and habits of life, goes to show that they 
are of a radically different stock. From their long 
intercourse with the English, they have adopted 
many English words, which are nevertheless pro- 
nounced in a manner which renders them nearly 
unintelligible. Their own language, however, is 
not deficient in euphony, although defective in 
grammatical powers. It has no article, definite or 
indefinite ; but the numeral adjective kumi (one) 
is used whenever the idea of number is promi- 
nent. The adjectives follow the noun, as do also 
the numerals. All nouns are understood to be 
masculine, unless qualified by the word mairen 
(woman, or female). The pronouns are twelve in 
number, but have neither gender nor number, 
both of which must be inferred from the connec- 
tions in which they are used. The verbs have 
mood, tense, and person, but are wanting in 
number. 



308 



THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 



English. 








Mosquito. 


Man ., . . . . waikna. 


Woman 








mairen. 


Father 








. aize. 


Mother . 








yapte. 


Boy . . 








tukta. 


Girl . . 








kiki. 


Husband . 








niaia. 


Wife . . 








maia-mairen. 


Head . . 








lei. 


Hand . . 








rnita. 


Mouth . . 








bila. 


Foot . 








niena. 


Blood . . 








tala. 


House . . 








watla. 


Thing . . 








dera. 


Dory . 








duerka-taira. 


Paddle . 








kuahi. 


Arrow . 








( trisba. 


Harpoon 








, waisku, silak 


Gun . 








rokbus. 


Sea 








. kabo. 


Eiver . 








awala. 


Water . 








. li. 


Food . 








. plun. 


Cassava 








. yaura. 


Bread . 








. tane. 


Maize . 








. aya. 


Fish . 








. inska. 


Iguana 








. kakamuk. 


Stone . 








. walpa. 


Sky ,. 








. kasbrika. 


Sun . 








. lapta. 


Moon . 








. kati. 


Star 








silma. 


Wind . 








pasa. 


Thunder 








alwane. 



VOCABULARY. 



309 



English. 
Earthquake 
Island 
Chief . . 
Paint . . 
Curassow 
Dog . - 
Monkey . 
Ox . . . 
Deer . . 
Alligator . 
Manitus . 
Forest 
Savannah 
Cotton 
Palm-tree 
Mahogany 
Cocoas 
I . 
Thou 
He 
This 
That 
Other 
To drink 
To eat 
To run 
To paddle 
To laugh 
To speak 
To hear 
To sleep 

1 . . 

2 . . 

3 . . 

4 (2+2) 

5 . . 



Mosquito. 

niknik. 

daukwara. 

wita. 

orowa. 

kusu. 

yul. _ 

ruskika, waklin. 

bip, (beef?) 

sula. 

tura. 

palpa. 

untara. 

twi. 

wamuk. 

hatak. 

yulu. 

duswa. 

yung. 

man. 

"wetin. 

baka. 

naha. 

wala. 

diaia. 

piaia. 

plapia. 

kaubia. 

kikia. 

aisaia. 

walaia. 

yapaia. 

kumi. 

wal. 

niupa. 

walwal. 



matasip. 



310 



English. 




6 


7 (6 + 1) . . 

8 (6 + 2) . 




9 (6 + 3) . 
10 (5x2) . 




11 (5x2 + 1) 




20 (20x1) 

21 (20x1 + 1) 




30 (20x1 + 10 


) • 



37 (20x1 + 10 + 6 + 1 

40 (20x2). . . 
100 (20x5) . . 



THE MOSQUITO SHORE. 

Mosquito. 

matlalkabe. 

matlalkabe puri kami. 

matlalkabe puri waL 

matlalkabe puri niupa. 

matawalsip. 

matawalsip pura kumi. 

iwanaiska kumi. 

iwanaiska kumi pura kumi. 
( iwanaiska kumi pura mata- 
\ walsip. 

! iwanaiska kumi pura mata- 
walsip pura matlalkabe 
pura kumi. 
iwanaiska wal. 
iwanaiska matsip. 



THE END. 



LONDON : SERCOMBE AND JACK, 1GA, GREAT WINDMILL STREET. 



LBS 



